Sleep

Hypnos, you are a frightful god. You give me pause but do not offer rest. Whether light or dark you promise sleep but there is none? While others follow the suns departure to lie down, you keep my mind alert. No matter the bed or the temperature or the amount of effort to wear the body out, you do not come to visit me. Instead you leave me out barren on a constant stream of thoughts. When you do let me drift off into the river of Lethe, you son Phantasos shows up with unimaginable visions and wonders. Last night for example the dog in the empty glass room with a brick wall and a half open door with a sign asking the dog not be let out then the red and black night club that looked closed but may have been open so the boy in the leather motorcycle jacket threw a rock at it. There was some sort of a parade that was being showered in popcorn. The girl in the kabuki airbrushed pink and blue pastel make-up with white lipstick in a 20’s tuxedo. We never seem to speak but read each other’s thoughts. It is hard to kiss upside down.  

The crate of popcorn was not empty ‘cept for the old maids to be dumped for the birds in the empty construction fenced in site next to the now empty glass room with the dog curiously exploring it’s freedom. It is said you Hypnos are a benevolent god, so why am I punished to plead for release of the worldly thoughts, but not from Thanatos, only to awake to Whimsically Macabre sounds? What offerings can I give to thee keeper of darkness to allow me the taste of a restful, fulfilling sleep to be awakening with vigor?

In the Greek mythology, Hypnos is the son of Nyx (“The Night”) and Erebus (“The Darkness”). His brother is Thanatos (“Death”). Both siblings live in the underworld (Hades) or in Erebus, another valley of the Greek underworld. According to rumors, Hypnos lives in a big cave, which the river Lethe (“Forgetfulness”) comes from and where night and day meet. His bed is made of ebony; on the entrance of the cave grow a number of poppies and other hypnotic plants. No light and no sound would ever enter his grotto. According to Homer, he lives on the island Lemnos, which later on has been claimed to be his very own dream-island. His children Morpheus (“Shape”), Phobetor (“Fear”) and Phantasos (“Imagination, Fantasy”) are the gods of the dream.  He is said to be a calm and gentle god, as he helps humans in need and, due to their sleep, owns half of their lives.