Psalm
Oh, Hypnos, the god
Who owns half my life
You are wreaking havoc.
Oh, Hypnos, the kind
And gentle God, sing
Your songs and soothe
Me, bring me close
To you til dawn. I travel
From one side of the bed
To the other, back and forth
like the nomads who seek shelter
from the journey’s travails.
I’d rather travel
The galaxies with you
For night has stars
And dreams, and guests
From this world
And far beyond.
Hypnos, I beg you.
Bring me to the place
Where day meets night,
Where dark meets light.
Bring me to the river
Lethe. Let me forget.
Pity me. Love me.
My winged god,
I am so tired.
Audrey Friedman is a retired Rhode Island Literacy teacher who now lives an artsy life in Bluffton, SC. She writes poetry, paints, spins and knits. Audrey received her MFA in Poetry from Vermont College of the Fine Arts in 2005 and attended the renowned Bread Loaf Writers Conference. She served as a contributing editor of the Hunger Mountain Literary Journal for many years. Audrey now facilitates adult poetry workshops. Audrey’s work appears in journals including The Comstock Review, California Quarterly, The Griffin, Urban Spaghetti, and several anthologies. Samples of her work can be found at https://theliterarynest.org/issues/vol-1-issue-2/poetry/audrey-friedman/, and https://contemporaryhaibunonline.com/chohtmlarchive/pages073/Friedman_Crazy.html.
Stone Poetry Quarterly 