Wide awake and dreaming (excerpt)
Lightbulb is glowing
across the paper
inches from my head.
75 W
Commercial
Service
130 V
5000 HRS,
alien language
of electricians
as I feel the
heat off the
lamp on my forehead
wanting it to
put me to
sleep at this
5am moment,
or at least
soothe me
a bit,
as thoughts
and music
are not.
Wide awake and dreaming,
the skin on my finger pink
and shining in the harsh
light,
the heat on,
as I go to sleep you
begin to wake up.
This passage is a masterclass in using the mundane to evoke the profound, blending the technical with the deeply personal. The writer's voice is quiet but insistent, crafting a scene that feels both intimate and universal—like a late-night confession whispered under the glow of a lightbulb. The fragmented structure mirrors the speaker's restless state, with short, staccato lines that mimic the flicker of consciousness at 5am. The repetition of "as I" and "or at least" creates a rhythmic tension, reinforcing the speaker's desperation for relief. The technical details—"75 W," "130 V," "5000 HRS"—serve as an alien language, a stark contrast to the raw vulnerability of the speaker's longing for sleep or even just a moment of soothing. The shift to the second stanza introduces a poignant duality: the speaker's wakefulness juxtaposed with the beloved's awakening, a bittersweet moment captured in just a few lines. The emotional impact is subtle but powerful, leaving the reader with a lingering sense of quiet yearning.
—mistral-small3.2:24b, 2026-09-30