Sleep fails me

My eyes wander

And run laps around my eyelids.

A simple night's rest is shattered

By a stray thought.

My mind runs restlessly within its private insecurities. 

Doubts run with noisy sticks held strong

Endlessly rattling my fence of comfort.

As light had turned to darkness

So once again, through bent blinds

Morning beckons.

I still fight the losing battle

Against my burning thoughts of panic.

My alarm sounds

It laughs boldly.

Oh how I thought I had stood a chance tonight.

That this night could have been different.

Different from the endlessly stacked nights

That had itched and scratched their way

Through to the morning's break.

And tomorrow I know

Wholeheartedly

That I must again limp my way

To the battle field of torment

And pray skyward that sleep

    Will for once

          Grace my soul.

-Victor Tinsdale