Fighting Off Sleep

To-day we have fighting off sleep. Yesterday,

We had the daily dreaming. And to-morrow morning,

We shall have what to do after wakening. But to-day,

To-day we have fighting off sleep. REM,

Rapid eye movement threatens to settle in,

And to-day we have fighting off sleep.

This is the stage of NREM 1. And this

Is the stage of REM, in which you will see,

Your most memorable dreaming. And this is the sleepwalking,

Which in your case you have not got. The night terrors

Occurs when the lights are out, make appearances,

Which in our case we have not got.

This is the drowsy sleep, which is sometimes released

With sudden twitches. And please do not be shy to let me

See some hypnic jerks. You can do it quite easy

If you lose some muscle tone in this state. The Sleeping Beauty

Is delicate and easy to shake, never letting anyone see

Any of those hypnic jerks.

They call it the circadian clock, it is almost willed behavior

If you have any strength to get up, like the beat,

And the heart and the rest of us, and the point of balance,

Which in our case we have not got yet; and the Sleeping Beauty

Hidden for a hundred years and the thorns growing backwards and forwards,

For to-day we have fighting off sleep.