#NaPoWriMo Day 28: Thoughts To Keep You Up.

Today, napowrimo.net asked us to write a poem that was a series of questions. And what better time is there to sit and question your existence than in the middle of the night?

I think it’s a pretty relatable, simple and straightforward poem, so I’m going to be adding any endnotes to this. So take from the poem what you will! And while you’re here, make sure you visit my best friends’ pages, Kittu’s Modern Mixtape and Amour Infini, for more amazing poetry!

Happy reading! Xx

---

The entire world wrapped in a blanket
Of all the clouds and stars put together,
Why, then, am I still awake?

Why do I find my thoughts so loud,
Roaring  tides amidst a storm,
When I’d rather have peace and quiet, instead?

Why do the voices that comforted me,
Soothing salve over burning wounds,
Now bring me only the worst pain?

How does it feel like only the briefest moment,
And yet, somehow,
An eternity stretched into the longest day?

I wonder how the time goes by,
How long do we have left?
How do moments seem to last forever?

Why do we seek out our missing pieces
Between the pages and stories we’d keep coming back to?
What emptiness led us here?

What sorrows do our pens bleed
That could ever measure their true depths?
Oceans held in mere words, but is that ever enough?

I wonder, when the last of our sand falls,
Where will our minds wander off to?
Would we go in peace and in love?

Would we ever be a story
Told over and over, once we’re gone,
Or remain a book that nobody ever writes?

And the pages from all our journals,
Would they tell a story of who we used to be?
Would they be saved as a memory of our lights?

Do you ever think you could have been
The muse the poet sang about,
The one stranger that he’ll never find?

In the bustle of a crowd,
Are you ever afraid
Somebody could hear your thoughts and read your mind?

And when the darkness comes to take hold,
Do you ever regret thinking
What would happen if you let it in?

Do you ever look out the window,
At the vast stretch of the sky,
And wonder what it would be like to fly?

Standing there, letting the waves crash over,
Do you ever consider letting go,
Wondering what drowning could be like?

Why do we open up old scars,
As though they never stood a chance to heal,
Only to break from the pain, all over again?

What good are promises of eternity
If they’re only made to be broken?
Why do we relive our worst mistakes?

Why do we never learn
From being broken so in the past?
Why do we seek out that euphoric pain?

What joy do we ever derive
From the tears that have been shed?
Why do our sorrows never seem to end?

And if I fell asleep, right this instant,
Would I feel myself drift to peace?
Would I feel myself slipping away?

~© Shubhangi Srinivasan.

---

Featured Image by Amol Tyagi on Unsplash