Coming Up Empty

13 February 2021 Saturday Poetry Prompt: insomnia

It’s not that I don’t know what the pieces are, or how they fit; it’s that there’s this huge wall in the way

Jerking around in bed, it’s 5 a.m. and no matter how long I close my eyes, my body just isn’t going anywhere

That’s what you do when your pocket pairs are so low, so shitty that you’ve got to imagine that the gutter is peopled by people like you and that’s okay

Sending imaginary notes to the lovers from before, I’m fine, now, but that’s pretty relative

I’ve gone into the dark and came out with a body I don’t know what to do with, singing scathing lines of exhausted rhetoric

I’ll probably fall asleep sometime, but just not now.

J.D. Harms 2021

Prompt:

Everyone’s favourite subject, right? Ha! I am starting to feel a little badly about heaping negative work/ideas/prompts on you, so I’m hoping you’ll still find some way to have fun with this piece. Though I tend to be introspective and observe the rituals of the manic depressive, it might surprise you to learn how much I love to laugh. I do like to have fun, and I promise, someday soon, I’ll get some lighter stuff going here. In the meantime, write a piece about insomnia. I know many writers here on Medium have already committed work to the subject (Imad, I’m pretty sure you did…). Surprise me. Make me laugh!! Tag me in it (J.D. Harms) and rock on!!

Joe Alan Asnen Nathan 8 Vixen Lea Aparna Das Sadhukhan Amy L. Bernstein Jesse M. Gonzalez BRiYA Gabriela Marie Milton Renee Podunovich Evan Wildstein Viraji Ogodapola Nathaniel Laydon janny’s heart Matthew Leo Ben Murphy Wilfreda Edward Enne Baker Connie Song Karen L. Jones Upen Singh Kristen v.H. Middleton Mary Jones Maziar Ghaderi Kristie Darling Matt Getty Mahnoor Chaudhry Barry Dawson IV Lola Sense Lori Lamothe Ian Cunnold MDSHall Patrick M. Ohana Bradon Matthews Amy Jasek Zay Pareltheon Jessica Lee McMillan Eli Snow Ema Dumitru Iva Hotko Janaka Stagnaro Jasmine Abbi. Joseph Coco Joseph Lieungh Samantha Lazar Paroma Sen Mimi Bordeaux Sydney Duke Richey Sydney J. Shipp Camille Fairbanks Kevin E. Pittack Jr. Georgia Lewitt Lowell Woluchem Louis Dennis Imad Dennett Samuel Clarke Jay Sizemore Carolyn Riker Victoria Ponte Gurpreet Dhariwal Dermott Hayes Ray Lobo Rosy Rane Qalam Dana Sanford Suntonu Bhadra Kira Dawn Suzanne V. Tanner Johanna Geary Joanna Vang Tre L. Loadholt Jenine Bsharah Baines Josie Elbiry Johannes Mudi Lennie Varvarides Ana-Maria Schweitzer Ann Marie Steele Sarah E Sturgis Kim Cullen C.J. Obikile Ronald Mathew Gerardo Rene Paz Rhonda Marrone Aaron Quist Mohan Boone Angelina Der Arakelian Daniel A. Teo Amanda Dalmas Gaston King Alex Guenther Rebecca Ruth Gould Laura Misener Vera Hadzic Akhtar Mehmood Andrea Juillerat-Olvera Jeff Langley rowen maeve Cindy Byrne Matt Gleason