Let me sleep forever
Let the earth swallow me
I'll be gone
Here no more

The sandpaper of day
Has worn me to red
Nerve endings flaring
Pain in head crying
Disassociating

Let the night come swiftly
And let it never end
I don't wish to return
To day

Written 1986, junior year of high school. My creative writing teacher was very concerned when she read this poem, and asked if I was planning to kill myself. Of course I wasn't, I said, the poem is just about sleeping. I was tired all the time.

In retrospect I can see her point. The poem is obviously about wanting to die. Years later, I now know that whenever I am chronically sleep deprived, I become depressed. At the time I wasn't consciously aware of suicidal thoughts... I just wanted to go to sleep. And never wake up. yeah, that was healthy.