The Sleep Phenomenon

 

Have you ever checked the time

That you went off to sleep?

Did you check before or after

And did you carefully look or just peep?

I find it very amazing

Regarding some of the things we say

“Like, I went to sleep at 10 o’clock

Just day before yesterday.”

And we are very adamant too

Even willing to testify in court

That we know the time we fell asleep

And we are not making sport.

Don’t think this is funny

I know it happened to you too,

Just think back a little bit

Already you are admitting it is true.

See if you remember this conversation

Probably this morning when you woke;

“When did you go to sleep?  Was it late?”

“No, I went to sleep at half past eight.”

I am amazed that you can tell

The exact time that you fell asleep,

I wonder where the clock was located

That allowed you that final peep.

I know people who can multi-task

And do even three things at a time

But seeing the clock and sleeping too

Really, really blows my mind.

 

If you are only now getting the point

I guess you were sleeping all along,

If while asleep you could tell the time

Next time you’re asleep sing a song.

Another one I have often heard

And still don’t know what it means

Is, “Man I was between sleep and wake

When I heard somebody scream.”

  

I want somebody to tell me

What really is “between sleep and wake”,

I believe it is one or the other

And on that matter that’s just my take.

A third delusion about sleep

Is the argument that some people make

And tell what they don’t do while sleeping,

You would argue they were awake.

“I don’t snore in my sleep,” they say

As though they can really tell,

They will argue all night with you

Who in the same house with them dwell.

The final delusion I shall share

Is closely linked with the first,

It also has to do with time

And is very frequently rehearsed.

“I was so tired yesterday evening

That I slept exactly five hours.”

Unable to tell when they went to sleep

They pretend to have psychic powers.

If only I could tell when I went to sleep

I could tell for how long I had slept

But being asleep there’s no way I could,

That would be like laughing till I wept.

When one has truly gone to sleep

One has temporarily left this scene

And if he should hear or see anything

It would have to be in a dream.

Sleep is an intriguing phenomenon

And all that we know is that we do

But concerning what we do when we sleep

I do not know, do you?

Some people walk about in their sleep

And some people talk a lot,

Some people roam all over the bed

While some sleep in a single spot.

Whatever we do whenever we sleep

We are not aware that we do,

Not while we are sleeping we are not,

It is time you know that is true.

Let me end on this final note

And thank God for much needed rest

Happy to wake up out of a nightmare

But enjoy a lovely dream at best.

Stewart Russell © 2017