by Liberty Henwick

Why is it that at 11:05
my mind seems to wake and words come alive?
A clutch of wise phrases befitting a sage
demand to be scribbled down on a page.
My brain is now buzzing, fizzing and bright
The one problem is, I’ve switched off the light.

And next to me lies a husband who’s snoring,
his slumbering state is gently imploring
that I don’t budge an inch, as he’ll waken once more
and not fall asleep ’till a quarter to 4.
I know what that’s like, lying hours awake
my body bored of straightness – it’s starting to ache.

I’d just drifted off but then some tiny noise
startles me back. My mind it employs
every notion and thought, every trick in the book
To stop me from sleeping and cares can unhook
From reason to nonsense and meaningless fears
that daylight reduces ’til all disappears.

Can you jump up and scribble, creativity flowing,
your hands flying page-wards, heart and cheeks glowing?

So I really don’t want to wake him at all
I hold those lines tightly screwed up in my thrall.
I try to remember as much as I can,
those witty, smart wordings, my big clever plan
for what happens next and sharp dialogue
in the book that I’m writing or even my blog.

A notebook lies ready and also a pen
for moments like these, as I don’t quite know when
inspiration will hit me, it comes once again,
but why must it come so long after 10?
And how can I write in my book in the dark
without actually waking ye ol’ patriarch?

I’d love to be smart in the hours of day light
As bright as I seem at the start of the night!

So I ask other writers who’ve read up ’til here.
How do you do it, when prone on your bier?
Do you suffer the same form of affliction as me?
Or sleep ye alone, been evicted (set free?),
To write when you want to, whenever you can
without fear of waking your woman or man?

Can you jump up and scribble, creativity flowing,
your hands flying page-wards, heart and cheeks glowing?
Try as I may I’m stumped, how the blazes,
waiting ’til morning, you remember your phrases?
‘cos I’d love to be smart in the hours of day light
As bright as I seem at the start of the night!

Liberty Henwick is a South African mother of four living in Ireland. She is a graphic designer, but has loved writing and the beauty of words since she wrote the first poem she remembers when she was nine. Now she writes a blog at libertyonthelighterside.com, where she speaks candidly about being a woman in her forties, as well as her loves, which include her family, faith, creativity, and travel.