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.