Why I Stay Awake

*Wild Card Post*

I like the night, it’s calm.

Calm like the air after rain.

A force that settles the world,

Wrapping arms of silence around necks

And blankets of darkness over eyes.

It’s an involuntary calm that tugs my lashes open.

A calm that makes 3 hours on a math assignment feel natural.

A calm that clutches the shortest 8 hours I’ve ever felt.

.

But no one wants to experience it,

No one wants to live through the silence that distorts time.

They all would rather close their eyes,

And skip until harsh blazing light guides them once again.

But not me, I’d rather watch minutes turn into seconds,

Rather feel my eyelids get heavy.

Rather watch my retinas adjust to the darkness,

Learn how they adapt to live in uncertainty.

.

I don’t want to see my path clearly illuminated,

Because then I don’t have an excuse

When I chose the brambles over it.

And I find There’s something peaceful about blindness.

It allows you to just exist,

Without eyes peering over your shoulder.

.

That’s why I like the night.

I like to live when no one else is living.

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-The Splintered Pencil