The Monster of My Summer Story

My Poetry Story – Part 8

September 2020. As Spring began to fall asleep, the summer, dripping with humidity, awoke with a vengeance and along with it, the sleep apnea monster. As the evening sky displayed its serene sparkling beauty, and the suburb around me fell quietly to sleep, I hesitated to lie down on my bed, even though I desperately wanted and needed to do so. It would not take long before the monster’s sharp claws forced me into a painful, harmful wrestling match with my weary mind and body, refusing to let me fall to sleep.

I would crawl out of the battlefield each morning, leaving the monster to rest peacefully all day long, to refresh its energy, while I struggled to stay awake and function during the long hot daylight hours. Then, as the sunset, my tension rose, waiting for the nightmare to start again. It was during this time that I wrote my poem ‘The Love of Sleep.’ I had been so excited and enthusiastic that Spring, to launch my new website. But, I felt frustrated during the sweltering summer that I could only gather enough energy to concentrate at my computer for an hour or two in the cool of the evening.

Though my body was weak, my mind had been forced to exercise patience and perseverance. When finally the monster turned to walk away from me, I suspect bored from its predictable and repetitive victory over my body, I tasted a strange victory. The David and Goliath battle had strengthened the muscles of my mind. With fists clenched and dancing feet I boldly hissed through tight lips “Just you wait until next summer when I will beat you to a pulp.” “We’ll see about that” it scoffed as it walked toward the horizon.

March 2021. I welcomed back my seasoned and c-o-o-l friend, Autumn, during which I slept relatively peaceful and woke to feel invigorated in its crisp morning air. With fresh energy, I was unstoppable. I was working with urgency as if the ticking of my analogue clock was a time bomb. When it was time to launch my Simply Story Poetry website, my finger hovered over the publish button in nervous hesitation. Would anyone like my poetry? Would anyone ‘get’ my poetry; understand the message I want to share?

There was only one way to find out. I pressed the button and launched Simply Story Poetry with four poems – a self-titled poem, a funny poem about my online journey, my first Christian poem and an invitation poem, and I uploaded all my existing poems as drafts, to wait expectantly in the wings for their individual time, throughout the year, to play their part on centre stage, telling their simple poetic story.