Sleeping with the Whale

author's note:

"Don't wake him up.  He's got insomnia--he's trying to sleep it off."
        -- from the Marx Bros.' A Night at the Opera


SLEEPING WITH THE WHALE

When I wake up
in the depth of night
I often feel a lump
--a whale hump--
beneath my dream pillow.

I'll then adjust my head
and shift and twist
but I can only ever get
semi-comfortable:

the truth is,
in my heart I sense
the beast waiting for me
beneath the waves...

even at rest we don't rest--

both day and night
we're learning
how to ride this whale.

© 2018, Michael R. Patton
what I learned while alone: poetry ebook