Otherwise faithfuls whisper wrong names into the ears of lovers

who keep breathing but do not stir

do not give the impression they heard a word out of place
A child wakes sits bolt upright in bed but still asleep

and screams run for your lives the house is on fire
A woman dreaming of the cliff edge of her marriage

clings with renewed hope to her side of the bed
Insomniacs try to run out of things to count
A grandmother of six plugs herself into her own theme music

runs a hot scented bath introduces herself to herself
as the Queen of Sheba slipping cat like between lives
Drug induced sleepers dream dreams they won't remember

but will go about their day all day

checking their pockets certain they've lost their keys
A father watches the clock tick over curfew tries not to remember

what he got up to at that age calls his daughter's name to

come / heel / stay     as if this     could ever bring her home
And the body becomes just that as the soul struggles to equal

the simple sum of subtracting a dead weight from a live one