When All the World’s Asleep

By: Abigail Handojo 2022

When all the world’s asleep,

The sun is free to cry behind the shade

The curtains can fall as well as the act

In a heartbeat, she can drop her charade

With no one around to see how she reacts

Moonlight fills the gaping void in our hearts,

Encasing the city in a mournful melody

That hides the dust and conceals broken parts

As the hush over houses sounds heavenly

The wind threads itself between the willows

And fallen branches gather in piles on the floor

There’s nothing more to face but our pillows

As we silence ourselves for people next door

We spend days counting hours and nights counting sheep

Too focused on insecurities, doubts, or choices

For the darkness drowns the pain that we keep

Fighting a battle just to rest our inner voices

Each day we move on and keep pretending

Each day we reply with standardized “I’m fine”

Wondering when problems will start mending

When life will acknowledge that we’re trying

The night forces us to face what’s real

No matter if you wear makeup or smiles,

In the night, we cannot conceal how we feel

And even the sun drops her shine for a while

No matter how much time falling asleep takes,

Each day we lie until we lie in our beds to sleep

For when we’re unconscious it’s hard to fake

Who we truly are when all the world’s asleep

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Published in Fresh Ink's June Issue

Original cover edited using IbisPaintX and Picsart