By: Suzy Schwabl

It’s 2:13am.
Tick Tock, Tick Tock: time is a robber
Snatching away the minutes of which my body desires sleep
Tick.
Tock.
The thoughts, here they come:
Oh no, oh no not again
The worst ones that set in...
And all of a sudden the world is ending
Life flashes before the blackness of my eyelids
Tick Tock,
Tick Tock,
Every mistake, every desire, every love, every hate
As if they are the sheep I am supposed to be counting.
One... two... three…
Ninety eight... ninety nine... one hundred...
Why am I not asleep?
Every regret I have never remembered creeps in 
Straightening the hairs on my neck on their path to my mind
And all of a sudden these blankets aren’t as warm
These 2:13 thoughts are simply not my friend.
Mocking laughs echoing, on and on and on
An open invitation to my worries, fears, and doubts
I hate them, I hate them
Make them go away,
Away! Away! Away!
Expel these demons from my mind!
And my eyes open,
Tick.
Climbing from the grave of which my mind dug itself
Tock.
It is 2:14am.
Tick Tock
The world is at peace once again.