A poem I wrote for a $500 scholarship. I'm still waiting to see if I won. XD

though closed I still see and hear cars whiz by

in the dark of my prison,

chasing sleep like the drivers chase clocks.

Moments come where I think I've caught up

but the whispers of the wood creep beneath me

and kidnap my unconsciousness again.

I count to zero once more, see nothing but flashing lights

but silence screams loud like trailing echoes of late-night

machines polluting my dreams.

A moment of breath, the quiet of peace, remnants of cars fade into sleep

on the path of three lights and the tick-tocks of clocks.

A flash sprinkles checkers like snowflakes on monotonous television.

The cars clash like cymbals while speeding by my windows,

now chasing grass mats of prismatic light.

They whisper, "Go to Venus," but nobody who heard them

knew how to get there.

Nobody knew what they meant.

I followed the breadcrumbs slumber left behind and found solace

in the realm of salvation, where the answer was obvious.