A little past midnight, daughter woke up.
She left her bed to come wake body up.
She shoved a snoring shoulder in until
Awareness, mind, and self were recreated
And through the body generating them
Could listen. Daughter insisted she had been
Bitten by red ants in her sleep. She climbed
Under the covers, stole the best pillow,
Wedged herself into body's armpit, and slept
Through the night, through the wee summer
Predawn blue, through the waking of birds
And then of squirrels around the cabin
At five, through the actual dawn, until seven.
But body never went back to sleep,
Meaning awareness and company couldn't
Die to be reborn but sat alertly in the head
Through the unlit hours of moonless woods
Arguing and resembling one another
Like siblings quarreling over a cold hearth.
Self wished body would just get it over with.
Mind was afraid of rebirth until self insulted
Mind's intelligence, pointing out that mind
Lived and died as much out of body as in.
Mind replied that for self the cycle went on
Only during body's lifetime, with true escape
Guaranteed at the end. Awareness floated
Up past the hum of a mosquito, to windows
Through which it was almost impossible
To make out any darker shadows in the dark.
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