some people do sleep

i tell you that i often mistake
my desk chair for a short man 
standing in the center of my room
at night when the only light
is that from the blush of night sky
& other houses glowing windows 
the house behind me always
leaves the light on in one room
to the left
only there's never anyone in it
& the angle where i am 
doesn't let me see much inside
i imagine it as a sun room
like the one in my parent's house
a room that people only walk through
i can't sleep so i sit
on the hardwood floor next
to the chair which is also 
a short man which is also 
me if i were a chair
red cushion with 
black slipper wheels that make 
it slide around
whoosh across the planks
of light color floor
i consider sleeping on 
the floor & waking up
to see the short man 
standing over men
how i might at first scream
but then come to accept 
his features
that i might tell him 
about the window i notice
almost every night
maybe his height would
let him see something
i never could
i would dress him 
in my nightshirts
each would be drastically
too big for him 
but it would be better
than letting him be naked 
& cold
we'd sit up in the living room
with the TV that doesn't work
& we'd make a list
of the dreams we wished we'd had
if only we could fall asleep
& stay asleep as long as we wanted
sometimes i feel like
life is working to teach how to live
on fewer & fewer ours of sleep
maybe i'm just tired
maybe that's why i mistake
my desk chair for a short man
but i love him 
& thank god for him
or i would be up alone
he sits in my lap 
i hear you turn over in bed 
& i'm comforted to know 
that some people do sleep 
possibly more regularly 
& i wonder if you notice
that patch of light 
coming from the window
of the house behind us
i want to walk up there 
at night when no one is awake
but me & my desk chair
pace back & forth in that room
to alter the light for
a few flickers
maybe just enough to catch
you attention 
before you roll
over again
dig yourself back
into sleep