Uhtceare

 

 "Uhtceare is an Old English word that refers to anxiety experienced just before dawn. It describes that moment when you wake up too early and can't get back to sleep, no matter how tired you are, because you're worried about the day to come." Mark Forsyth, The Horologicon

 

The night is dark, the water deep

but morning’s not so far away.

I’m floating at the edge of sleep

 

a fish the fisher couldn’t keep,

an exile at the break of day.

The night is dark, the water deep—

 

or should be, but the tide is neap

and anchored vessels barely sway.

I’m floating at the edge of sleep

 

an aging broom that still must sweep.

The streetlights glare, I cannot say

the night is dark. The water’s deep

 

as blankets tumbled in a heap,

billows rocking Slumber Bay.

I’m floating at the edge of sleep

 

waiting for my clock to beep,

my ship to launch, my anchor weigh.

The night is short. The waters keep

me stranded at the edge of sleep.

 

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