It is that point in the night
where you know you have something left to do
but your brain will not focus enough
to tell you what it is.

You keep circling around subjects
fading out on street corners
like heroin is expecting you back for dinner any time now
but you have this last responsibility you have to get to…

If you’d gone to sleep hours ago,
you might be able to wake up
in a few hours time, refreshed, relaxed,
capable of easily recalling whatever it was that needed doing,
but as it stands, the required mission
is tunneling away from you,
funhouse style,
and you still don’t know what it is

You can’t give up
but you can’t do it.
There is no solution
until you suddenly wake up
hours later
cramped in some awkward position,
wondering what happened.

You fell asleep on the couch
on the toilet
standing up
is what happened
and you’re no closer to mission accomplished
than before.

It seems like you’ve already given up for the night.
But the responsibility will be there in the morning.

It always is.