Sleep's Purple Arm

It takes all night to sleep through the night
just like it takes a whole foot to fill a sock
or when you ask me why pants are so popular
you are usually out of breath running past
the outlet that sells pants to those in need.
I'm not one to discount the need for sleep
it's just that sometimes the space needed
for one night's rest bumps into the next day
where it's better to get up and read
because that's what fits and I'm not one
to sleep with my face in a basin of water--
that's just not the way I roll in Cobble Hill in 2008
where everyone is bruised and resinous
enduring the panic of the day well into the night
oozing from sleep's purple arm.