HANDTYPE PRESS: Something to Sleep On (a sample poem)

Suddenly Slow: Poems.
John Lee Clark.
32 pages.
5.5" x 8.5" paperback.
ISBN: 978-0-9798816-1-9

SOLD OUT.
(It's sadly out of print.)

SOMETHING TO SLEEP ON
by John Lee Clark

Every morning I wake up
with strange writings
all over my body.

What are the wrinkles
from my bed sheets inscribing
onto my flesh?

Some carvings are easier
to decipher: waist lines
imploring me to lose weight,
thin stripes declaring
that I have feet but of clay,
and a groove around one finger
reminding me that I belong
to one woman.

After making love with her
on them, are the creases
jealous, sneaking in dreams
to confuse our love?

Or is the woven cotton kinder,
soothing me to keep still,
not to toss and turn
and wear my nights thin?

If my linen is also wise,
it must be warning me
that I will die one morning
bearing a final message,
something to sleep on.