Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep - Steve Feinstein

now I lay me down to sleep
another day is done
with nothing gained and nothing lost
like every other one

i stand before the mirror
and the tears begin to well
what have i done that i've become
that empty joyless shell

the hair unkempt the face unshaved
the teeth a smokey brown
the cheeks just hanging by a thread
the lips a lifeless frown

the eyes are black with weariness
yet i am loath to lay
too brief will be my restless sleep
til falls another day

at last i can resist no more
and curl up in my bed
i might decide on suicide
were i not already dead
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... so i shake myself from lethargy and yet another rest, for some time, long enough to love yet a while, then lay my head down on my pillow again, and fall asleep.