Man Fights Sleep

I

Man fights sleep

while sitting on a train,

nodding and rocking his head

like a drunken string puppet.

His eyes close slowly like glaciers

and then suddenly spring open

as the train rocks; surprised, blinks,

and then as quickly slips shut again;

a fight that sets his face

as still as clay.

II

Man fights to write poem;

inspired in the moment. Now I’m

worried it’s not enough but

the moment stays with me all evening,

my fingers thawing on the keyboard.

Such a small moment really but

its persistence makes this man

give in and write and

remember it. So this poem

ends.