{"id":130403,"date":"2023-09-02T13:01:28","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T17:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/?p=130403"},"modified":"2023-09-02T17:23:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T21:23:44","slug":"letter-to-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/letter-to-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"

To my darling<\/span><\/p>\n

My dearest sleep<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Sleep<\/span><\/p>\n

To Sleep \u2013<\/p>\n

I hope this note finds you well. I believe it is time for us<\/p>\n

to be on the same page regarding our needs and desires.<\/p>\n

It is my goal that this note better communicates to you<\/p>\n

my part in our relationship, and how I respond to your<\/p>\n

part of our relationship.<\/p>\n

Our conflict began early, when you gave me my first<\/p>\n

hypnogogic hallucination when I was five years old.<\/p>\n

It was in the afternoon, I was tired. I saw the kitchen<\/p>\n

erupt into fire! Terrified, I ran through the flames for<\/p>\n

my mother\u2019s help, not noticing that I felt no heat from<\/p>\n

the conflagration. Upon our return, the flames were gone!<\/p>\n

Nothing was on fire. I was confused. Mom scolded me<\/p>\n

for lying. I needed a nap.<\/p>\n

The cataplexy erupted ten years later. I was trying to live<\/p>\n

with severe insomnia, nightmares and night terrors,<\/p>\n

sleepwalking, sleep talking, automatic behavior and more.<\/p>\n

Suddenly I was collapsing at the knees with laughter or tears.<\/p>\n

Then I fell out of the shower, hit my head on the toilet,<\/p>\n

knocked myself unconscious. I know you remember that!<\/p>\n

I would soon learn that I was a perpetual \u201cFALL RISK.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

DIAGNOSIS:<\/strong> Type 1 Narcolepsy, aka Narcolepsy with Cataplexy<\/em><\/p>\n

A neurologically based sleep disorder, autoimmune in nature<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So! Here we are, Sleep, my deeply disordered life partner\u2026<\/p>\n

I must be honest with you. I am frustrated. I am often angry!<\/p>\n

I have been cheated by you; cheated out of childhood, education,<\/p>\n

friends, love, travel, career, family\u2026 You have cheated me<\/p>\n

so many times! I did not consent to this relationship with you.<\/p>\n

I am forever chained to you, freedom never wholly mine.<\/p>\n

I am at your mercy.\u00a0You have stolen from me.<\/p>\n

You have made me undesirable…<\/p>\n

My Disordered Sleep,<\/p>\n

you are the worst bedfellow a girl\u00a0would never ask for!<\/p>\n

Could we please discuss a separation?<\/p>\n

It has been decades and I really need a break.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n

Sincerely<\/span><\/p>\n

Respectfully<\/span><\/p>\n

Talk soon<\/span><\/p>\n

I hate you<\/span><\/p>\n

From,<\/p>\n

Your Life Partner (me)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To my darling My dearest sleep Dear Sleep To Sleep \u2013 I hope this note finds you well. I believe it is time for us to be on the same page regarding our needs and desires. It is my goal that this note better communicates…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5294,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130403"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":134258,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130403\/revisions\/134258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}