To Sleep

My eyes beg to closeAs the winter blizzard blowsCannot seeNo road or treeWhile my car gradually slows.
My eyes beg to closeA fuzzy feeling flowsI wish to dreamAn endless streamWhile my car gradually slows
As the winter blizzard blowsThis road that I have choseForms a sheetOf icy sleetFrom raindrops that have froze
While my car gradually slowsI pull up next to rowsOf silent treesWith silver leavesAs my eyes beg to close
Copyright © 1997 Sean P. Pratt, all rights reserved
The Origin Story: This is one of my favorite poems that I wrote. After the first stanza, I used the three main lines of that stanza to begin the proceeding stanzas. I thought it was rather clever at the time. In fact, the night I wrote this poem it just poured out of me. This is the first draft and I believe it is perfect the way it is. I wouldn't change a thing about it. The origin story of this poem is that my wife had a beloved family member die. We were told late that evening and we had to make an emergency drive from the South Shore of Massachusetts to North Western Pennsylvania. I was very tired after working all day. My wife was very tired. I tried to drive for the bulk of it and had to pull over because I was falling asleep. It was snowing and we were somewhere between upstate New York and our destination in Port Allegany PA. We made it safely to the hotel and this poem bust out of me like a volcano.
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