The Origin of Sleep

I am a little girl
Chasing butterflies
Remembering all that was
Yet still I sleep in mother's arms
Why can I not wake?

I am a baby
Dreaming of birds and thistle
Flowers and stone
And creatures of the earth
I remember many years from now
Yet still I sleep
Cradled in mother's arms
Why can I not wake?

I am a woman
Asleep by the river bed
I speak to myself
For so very long now
I’m so very cold
So very still
Lungs rife with stagnant air
Why can I not wake?

Mother hold me
Cradle me close to you
And kiss me goodbye
Lay my body to the ground
That I may bloom
To seed the soil
I am a little girl again
Running through poppy fields
Dancing through misty meadows
Chasing butterflies
Chasing myself to sleep
Remembering so many years ago
Cradled in mother's arms
And again, I sleep

I am a baby
Sleeping again
In mother's womb
Remembering all that was
Fading now, I am awake