Sleepless City

I snuffed out the stars

Because they were too bright.

The thoughts in my head

were far too loud,

too boisterous.

I could not close my eyes to sleep

because my eyelids

were stuck open in the hope

That I'd see fire again.

The birds stopped singing when they no

longer could remember the notes to their

songs.

I begged for quiet but even the

silence is screaming at me.

My eyelids weigh two tons now but my mind

is a sleepless city

and rats are scurrying.

I'll force myself to sleep because it forces the minute hand to move faster.