Nocturnal, by Elaine Sorrentino

Night Light, by Jody Regan (USA) contemporary. Click image for artist site.

​Nocturnal 
 
Lights out 
except for one flooding
an upstairs chamber, 

in the silence
what prevents 
you from slumber? 
 
Shaken from deep repose,
did a child toddle in
seeking reassurance,  
 
has a page-turner 
refused  
to loosen its grasp, 
 
or, unable to wind down
did worries
heighten your insomnia─ 

sleeplessness
as annoying 
as a dripping faucet; 
 
perhaps restlessness  
is the consequence 
of late-night caffeine,  
 
or did you simply drift 
into a landscape of dreams
before extinguishing the lamp? 
 
Elaine Sorrentino

Elaine Sorrentino, Communications Director at South Shore Conservatory in Hingham, MA, has been published in Minerva Rising, Willawaw Journal, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Ekphrastic Review, Writing in a Women’s Voice, Global Poemic, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, The Door is a Jar, Agape Review, Haiku Universe, Sparks of Calliope, Muddy River Poetry Review, Library Love Letter, Etched Onyx Magazine, and at  wildamorris.blogspot.com.  She was recently featured on a poetry podcast at Onyx Publications, and has a co-authored book The Girl Scout and the Hitchhiker coming out next year.