Living Without Dreams

I do not want to sleep.
If I sleep, I will dream, and I do not want to dream.

I do not want the image of you, the memory of you, the vision of you,
To creep into my dreams from the places where you are nestled in my heart.

I do not want to hear your voice and see your face in my dreams
If I know I will never wake to hear your voice and see your face in the light of sunrise.

I do not want to sleep
Hoping to escape this eternal ache inside
Only to dream
And find the ache just as strong,
Just as hollow.
I do not want to know that there is no escape.

I do not want to lie in the bed we chose together
Without the promise of your arms around me.

I do not want to close my eyes and know that aloneness
That I thought I had put away forever.

I do not want to know that I can miss you
Even in my sleep.

My submission for Thursday Poet’s Rally Week 35 – http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/thursday-poets-rally-week-35-december-16-22/