[poem] An Anatomy of Sleeplessness

[kaberett]

painsomnia, noun, inability to sleep
arising from somatic symptoms.
insomnianger, noun, inability to sleep
because of rage.
insomnia, noun, inability to sleep
for reasons unclear, or perhaps uninteresting.
Deferential diagnosis is required.
Morpheus' border guards delight
in lengthy - endless - questioning.
O innocents, ye need not be afraid.
It is the rest for whom these gates are barred.
& so beware, be wary: caprice
is the only arbiter of guilt.

Comments

[kaberett]

still rough around the edges; in point of fact written last night, SURPRISE.

[vass]

Ooh, good one.

I like the new vocabulary, and "deferential diagnosis" is brilliant. And yes, lengthy, endless questioning.

[davidgillon]

Oh, absolutely adore 'Deferential diagnosis'!

Just done the painsomnia thing myself, apparently my neck strenuously objects to consultants spending 5 minutes assessing my shoulder's range of motion, who knew!

[cosmolinguist]

You made something beautiful out of something I know to be ugly. I admire that so much... but I hope you get some good sleep soon instead of having time to write things like this.

[alexseanchai]

Now I want to ask all the questions making this make sense as a fantasy setting, like, how do you know you're an innocent who needn't fear if "caprice is the only arbiter of guilt"? And now I'm thinking about racial profiling in immigration and yadda, and I don't think you were actually going there, so I'll shut up now. It's good.

[jesse_the_k]

Nifty.

Thoughtful.

[azurelunatic]

insomnianger is definitely a thing in my life.

[boxofdelights]

This is a delight.

[kaberett]

(miserinsomnia ought to have been in this one, for the record)