Sleep Cycle

By Dean Young b. 1955 Dean Young

We cannot push ourselves away

from this quiet, even in our sprees

of inattention, the departing passengers

stubbing out their smokes, arrivees in tears,

lots of cellophane, the rumpus over parking.

Wind scrapes leaves across the road,

first flashes of snow, it is dark then

it’s really dark. Forgive me for not

writing for so long, I’ve been

right beside you, one of the vaguer

divinities blocking your way with its need

to confess all its botched attempts at love,

what started the whole mess. I love this place,

its absurd use of balustrade, the chairs

that dig into the spine, motorcyclists

propping their drunk girlfriends in the sun,

men playing timed chess with themselves,

the guarantees and warnings that entice us

to the brink of what they warn about.

But we can do no more than pass through

these rooms and their sudden chills

where once a plea was entered almost

unintentionally that seemed at last

to reveal ourselves to ourselves,

immaculate, bereft, deserving to be found.

Dean Young, “Sleep Cycle” from Skid. Copyright © 2002 by Dean Young. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Reprinted with the permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press, www.pitt.edu/~press/.

Source: Skid (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2002)

Biography

Poet Dean Young was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania, and received his MFA from Indiana University. Recognized as one of the most energetic, influential poets writing today, his numerous collections of poetry include Strike Anywhere (1995), winner of the Colorado Prize for Poetry; Skid (2002), finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; Elegy on Toy Piano (2005), finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and Primitive Mentor (2008), . . .

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