An alliance with sleep

by Vasudha Chhotray

Come sleep,
be my ally.
Better an unwilling alliance,
than to stand alone.

And don’t leave me with the morning.

The night brings me stars,
maybe a million strangers.
And the day?
Nothing.
But one iridescent sun.

Come sleep,
ally with me.
Ally roughly,
if I make you angry.

Be a reluctant lover.
Refuse to be wooed,
into my selfish love.

I mean nothing,
of my spoken words.
I am faithless,
when awake.

Come sleep,
ally with me.

###

Vasudha Chhotray teaches politics and development studies at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. She studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi. She lives in Norwich in England and Mumbai in India, and travels extensively. Her poems have appeared in the Telegraph and the Indian Quarterly, amongst other places.