She sleeps, the child
drowing in drowsy dreams,
tiptoeing to tomorrow.
She sleeps, the adolescent,
sofly sighing songs
to Aphrodite and Athena
whispering prayers to the unnamed gods.
She sleeps, the woman,
as though finding salvation
from the unknown horrors of day
serenity breathing through red lips
and fingers grasping her blankets
to hold on through the wild ride of night.
She sleeps, the elder,
ragged-breathed and whimpering
sobbing on the shoulders of unwritten endings,
left hanging in her dreams
by a noose of daylight
strung tight around her neck.

01/07/2002