The Collected Writings of Brian J. Mueller
A single poem, met at the right moment, can change a life.
Search and read all 1,834 pieces by Brian J. Mueller — 1,675 poems, 38 prose pieces, and 121 haiku from 12 published volumes. Free to read and share.
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Browse the Twelve Volumes
Brian’s collected pieces, volume by volume.
Don't Go Back to Sleep
You’ve heard this phrase before:
Don’t go back to sleep!
Some days you are frightened.
There’s nothing between you
and what feels like death.
So you close your eyes
putting off the inevitable.
That inevitable rearranges the inner landscape.
It pours you another drink to forget,
and forbids you asking questions.
The inevitable can be wicked,
quick to throw a fist or an insult,
even quicker to withhold food from the hungry.
You won’t always know what to make of this
world.
Everyone who does know has died at least once,
and is then reborn in a million different ways.
Staying awake is onerous.
I can’t tell you whether this life is utterly
simple or confoundingly complex.
I lose the thread every time I think I’ve found it.
Fear will always visit you unannounced.
Remember:
Don’t go back to sleep!