Sleep (Poem)

Sleep.
That's all I ever want to do these days.
To escape into my dreams.
To hide from this nightmare called reality.

But, no.
I'm still alive.

So I find a job.
And chain myself down
To others' expectations,
And what they want me to be.

The monotony of going to the office and coming back home.
The monotony of typing words on the keyboard.
The monotony of doing the exact same thing.

Over, over and over again.

It helps.
Just a little.
I think?

I need to stay awake.
I need to stay alive.
For once I sleep,
I'll never want to wake up again.

Yet, my eyelids are faltering,
Weighed down heavily by
Something that has nothing
Connected to fatigue.

My dreams are luring me closer to the edge
Seducing me with their promises
Of a world parallel to this.

Perhaps I do not belong here,
In this reality.