Text by Metaphorest

==

Tonight when you lie restless
While wishing sweet repose
A tug of war plays out unseen
A clash between two foes

These rivals are the wardens
Who keep you counting sheep
Though never seen, you know them well
For they are Wake and Sleep

And mostly, they are allies
They get along alright
Wake rise-and-shines you every morn’
Sleep tucks you in at night

But, lately they’ve been feuding
And this night, the fight is worst
“She loves me most,” Wake boasts, but Sleep
Says, smug, “She loved me first”

The ‘She’ of whom they’re speaking
Is a maid you nightly meet
She fills your sleeping mind with tales
Of truth and stories sweet

She is Nyx’s only daughter
Much sought-after, it would seem
For Wake and Sleep are both heart-deep
In love with the one called ‘Dream’

Her skin is palest moonlight
Her black hair, an inky sea
And every time Wake thinks of her
He’s racked with jealousy

For each night, Sleep is treated
To a slow, seductive dance
While Wake is daily teased by fleeting
Visions of romance

“Tough,” says Sleep “but that’s the way
This game has always been
I revel in her nightly romps
You glimpse the odd day-Dream”

And with that mention of her name
She shimmers into view
A vision in red by the dreamer’s bed
That stalls the suitors’ feud

As she shimmies and sashays
They flutter, fawn and flush
Enamoured by her spectral form
They can do nought but blush

“Sweet Dream,” says Wake “My friend and I
Are engaged in a spat
We wish to know whom you love best
Myself or this old twat?”

And with that Dream begins to laugh
Then shakes her lovely head
She beckons both to sit by her
Upon the dreamer’s bed

“Come hither and I’ll tell the truth
The colour of my heart
The one who fills my days with joy
My darkest nights with art”

They huddle in, encouraged both
To hear their love’s reply
She slaps them both across the face
Then slaps her own pale thigh

“Not in a million years,” says she
“Would I love either fool
There is but one soulmate for me
My heart is his to rule”

“Who is this cad?” barks Sleep
“And how could we be so misled?”
Fair Dream replies, “I led you not
And he is in that bed”

“The Dreamer is the one for me
And always was it so
If ye had ever cared to think
Then you would surely know!

Now let the poor sod get some sleep
He’s tossed and turned for hours
Forget me, chaps, find other loves
Don’t let your friendship sour”

And with that Sleep morosely touched
The dreamer with his hand
And off he drifted, peacefully
Into the dreaming land

Wake looked at poor downtrodden Sleep
And Sleep at weary Wake
Heartbroken both, they sadly sighed
And shared a firm handshake

What foolish foes the two had been
Competing over Dream
When neither truly had a chance
To rise in her esteem

And all night long the dreamer dreams
Wrapped up in love’s embrace
While Wake and Sleep wistfully watch
The wonder on his face

“Where did we err?” Sleep asks, perplexed
“That her heart should be his?”
“We see her as we wish,” says Wake
“He sees her as she is”

And from this night the pair finds peace
They are, once more, a team
Resolved to leave bad blood behind
And follow different Dreams

==

MattConley (Community Director) writes: 

Voice Over Artists: let’s hear some readings of this, shall we?