Insomnia

by Wm. J. Wilson

 

Stalled in a windless doldrum, my dream-ship
drifts roundabout in a darkling clime
as minions of the Imperial Clock in lockstep
march into the blank Siberias of time.
Where now those sweet Sirens whose tremulous song compels the very sinews of the pilot's arm,
or those unfettered gales that blast a ship along
toward craggy reefs with threats of greater harm?

I wait in vain for idle dream-seeds tossed
to blossom round me like a movie scene
till, seduced by the part, my very name is lost
and in such waking I sleep and dream.
Failing all these, I'd take the proffered kiss
of black-eyed succubi or Lilith's fearsome hiss.

© 2005 Wm. J. Wilson

Wm. J. Wilson (Insomnia, Freak) was raised in a totally dysfunctional family in Memphis and graduated from Christian Brothers HS and Memphis State University. He moved to Huntsville in 1959 to join the von Braun team as a computer jock and eventually became a database and computer security consultant with the Sperry Univac Corporation (later UNISYS), retiring in 1990 to pursue his lifelong interests in writing and making mosaic art. When he was a child, his piano teacher's husband was an occultist with the best library in Memphis. While waiting for lessons, he learned much more about magic and divination than ever he learned about music from his wife. She was a good teacher but he was a hopeless student with two left hands. However, the magic arts were another matter entirely. He was an adept by the age of ten. It worked all too well and he had to ultimately give it up as well. However, his penchant for the gothic, which began in those days, is still reflected in his writing and world-view. About all this, he can only say, "As my will, so mote it be."