3:00 AM

The trouble with 3:00 am
is how close it is
to 7:00.
(every second it is closer –
my wrist is ticking
to remind me.)
In four hours I will
long
for sleep,
regret
each letter,
loathe the sound
of my alarm
as it needles its way
through my dreams.
3:00 am should be a world
all its own;
(a sliver of cool night,
the gravel of the drive
shifting
under my bare feet,
this breath of wind,
a quiet streetlamp on a quiet street.)
it should be a silent space
between 2:00 and 5:00
for the wakeful
to slip into
and through
and stay as long
as they like.
Instead 3:00 am
is slipping
surely
into 4:00,
and the night
is lightening
into today
whether or not
I can face it.