he tossed back his shoulders ⠀
and shook angry fists
at the insistence of the night ⠀
which washed over him ⠀
in a baptismal shower⠀
awakening cynicism⠀
dripping tortured postulations of fate ⠀
over all he had known ⠀
and could afford to call indifference ⠀
or assimilation of tranquility⠀
until the guardians of morning ⠀
withdrew rapiers of delirium ⠀
true to the spirit of revelation ⠀
and thrust the seed of salvation ⠀
into the sufferer’s soul⠀
delivering him ⠀
unto the doorstep ⠀
of the new day ⠀
with eyes afire, ⠀
longing to chase ⠀
the sun
©2026 Kevin Trent Boswell
“sleepless” from the book remission by Kevin Trent Boswell, available on Amazon.
Author’s Note 1:
I wrote this piece in my twenties. I’ve struggled with insomnia since I was about eighteen. In my thirties, it became easier because I can manage it with medication.⠀
I tried all that sleep-hygiene nonsense. I did it correctly, did all of it, and did it for extended periods to let my circadian rhythms adjust. None of it helped. Obviously, things like setting a timer for bed and then turning things off help, but that doesn’t mean you will fall asleep.⠀
If anyone reading this struggles with serious insomnia, don’t allow anyone to gaslight you into thinking you’re doing something wrong. Many people will only get significant relief through medication, especially if you have PTSD.⠀
The human brain is a mysterious beast that we don’t fully understand, and the unconscious mind processes every single piece of sensory input before the information reaches the higher reasoning levels of the prefrontal cortex.
Author’s Note 2:
Lately, I’ve been using ChatGPT for images, only because it’s faster than searching through a lot of stock photos.
However, I DO NOT use AI in my writing. ⠀
There are only two exceptions. One is a piece in my book Not Long for This World, in which I asked AI to explain the dangers of AI. That’s a no-brainer.
The other is that I frequently run a piece through Grammarly to check for spelling errors, and because I’m addicted to commas, semicolons, and em dashes. ⠀
⠀
I’m a practicing punctuation addict, choosing to focus more on a harm reduction approach rather than strict abstinence. Life is short, party hard.
