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Poetry: Late night thoughts

by T.C Leonard

"One Minute 'til Midnight"


As I squeeze every second

From my TV or a book,

I think of what the daylight brings

To blast me from my nook

There lies my alarm clock;

In eight hours it will scream

And wake me like Thor's Hammer

From a pleasant, lucid dream


My time is mine, at least for now,

But soon, without a warning,

I'll mutter suicidal thoughts

That hit me every morning

When the sunlight clears the trees

My freedom will be gone...

My time will be another's,

As some silly bastard's pawn


My thoughts will turn to five o'clock

And the pleasures of freed men

That lead into the waning hours

Of late night thoughts again

And soon enough the sandman comes,

Life's cycle is complete

With moments of small victories

And long years of defeat


For life is cruel, for but a few

Whose leisure holds its sway

And thus outlasts the gloom of night-

Surviving through the day

So, in a moment, maybe two,

As sleep engulfs my plight,

I'll drift off to Utopia,

But first bid you good night

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