Blogger Challenge 2007 thank-you poem: narcolepsy.

Near the end of our 2007 DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge, I received a generous donation from a reader who asked if I could write a poem about narcolepsy.

I'm a little late in paying up, but better late than never. Here it is:

I tried to write you
a narcolepsy poem.
Pen meets paper, but --

YAWN

Excessive daytime
sleepiness, or writer's block?
Push through fatigue and --

YAWN

Pen in my hand,
Body crumpled, inert, but
cataplexy won't --

zzzzzz

Sleep paralysis.
Awake, yet I can't move or
try the lines aloud.

YAWN

Drifting into sleep,
vivid hallucinations
scare me, but I must --

zzzzzz

Talking in my sleep.
Later, I'll not remember
my inspiration.

zzzzzz

Diagnosis lags
onset by a decade, more.
This verse: not that late.

* * * * *

This year, once again, I'll be offering incentives for your donation to my challenge -- including poetry (nerdy) written to order. Stay tuned for the details.