Harder to sleep

Williamsburg, Virginia, 1999
Nicaragua & Washington, DC, 2007

Leaves change colors like expatriates.
The snow brings silence
But never enough.
We speak of forgetting
I keep you in mind
And conjure your company
While crossing the police lines.

And what of our time?
We’ve worked all this time
For our time.

Leaves change like expatriates.
The silent snow is not enough
We speak of forgetting
But I’m keeping you in mind.
And it’s

Harder to sleep
When you’re not here.
It’s much harder to sleep this year.
It’s harder to sleep since you’re not here.
Harder to sleep this year.

Another day of politics
Draws to a close.
The evening equally restless
Without you at home.

I lay down again
Struggle to sleep
Anticipate fitfully
The inevitable bad dreams.

I’m back in the institution
In the back woods of Maine
With the children of avarice
And cannot escape.

I cannot seem to end the days
Or bring myself to rest.
I vacillate on broken springs
Awaiting your request.
For it’s

Harder to sleep when you’re not here.
It’s much harder to sleep this year.
It’s harder to sleep when you’re not here.
Harder to sleep this year.

I don’t give the people what they want
I’d rather tell them what they need to hear.
I get trouble at times, but I don’t really mind
When you whisper late at night in my ear.
Now it’s harder to sleep since you’re not here.

Harder to sleep, harder to sleep.
Harder to sleep, harder to sleep.
Harder to sleep, harder to sleep.
 
Harder to keep, harder to sleep
Harder to sleep, harder to sleep.
Harder to keep, harder to sleep.