The Laughter in My sleep

                                         THE LAUGHTER IN MY SLEEP

            ****************************************

                         BY: Keith H. Seymour

                         *****************************

                  Last night,

                                                               I was oddly awakened-

                                                               by...laughter.

                                                               The laughing voice...so distinct

                                                               that I realized …

                                                               IT was...mine.

                                                               Yes, I accidentally thought of you,

                                                               which caused me

                                                               to spontaneously laugh...

                                                               during my sleep.

                                                               After all,

                                                               it seemed so absurd

                                                               that years of friendship

                                                               could possibly become

                                                               something more.

                                                               So, under the circumstances,

                                                               I couldn't help

                                                               laughing in my sleep.

                                                        

                                                              That some sobering spirit

                                                               should cause  me to unwittingly...

                                                               profess my love, and ask for yours in return.

                                                               Then  learn that I only

                                                                            might

                                                                             get it.

                                                                You  say that you think

                                                                 you may feel

                                                                 the same undying love for me?

                                                                 But need time...

                                                                 to find out for sure?!

                                                                 Which means

                                                                  you may find out

                                                                 that... you don't love me-

                                                                 eventually.

                                                                 What  a terribly ironic joke.

                                                                 So, I laughed...during my sleep.

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                                                              I am sure God laughed too.

                                                              Only, HIS laugh

                                                              was likely louder.

                                                              For, I merely asked for

                                                              a stress free love.

                                                              Yet, HIS answer

                                                               was...you!

                                                               Then I find out that should these feelings

                                                               mutually exist,

                                                               we might...only

                                                               be able to express them from afar.

                                                               Meaning,

                                                               the prospect of your continuing love

                                                               I may eventually lose.

                                                               This thought

                                                               causes me to laugh

                                                               at myself.

                                                               Awake---and in my sleep.

                                                               I laugh

                                                              at... how

                                                              I foolishly admitted

                                                                       that

                                                                “I love you!”

                                                             Then again,

                                                             for regretting my revelation

                                                                         to you.

                                                                 Yes, as I slept...

                                                             God probably laughed too.

                                                                 With me? At me?

                                                             I'm not sure which.

                                                          

                                                             All I really know... is that HE knows

                                                             that you know...that

                                                                “ I truly love you!”

                                                             Also, unlike us... HE

                                                                   presently knows

                                                                         your...heart.

                                                              Except, HE won't tell me.

                                                              No. HE has left that task

                                                                         to... YOU!

                                                              I guess... the joke is not on me.

                                                              The joke...is me.

                                                              So, I laughed,

                                                              I laughed within... my...sleep.

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                                                             Oh... if I had  already been “conscious”

                                                              of how happy you make me feel,

                                                             even when we're apart.

                                                             Even when I'm asleep.

                                                             Maybe, I'd have been happier

                                                             sooner, and consciously laughed aloud

                                                            and with greater frequency

                                                             Then again...

                                                             Maybe not.

                                                             Anyway,

                                                            what a waste!

                                                           Such a loss of potential laughter.

                                                             Oh, how extremely sad.

                                                           Yes, our lives may soon depart from one another,

                                                           and then... we may or may not find

                                                                                    that

                                                                           time will heal

                                                                any newly discovered  feelings

                                                                into... at least...one set of

                                                                open-heart wounds.

                                                                Such good... or not so good fortune

                                                                laughs at me, as I become aware of this newly realized     

                                                                                   love.

                                                                So, I happily think of you,

                                                                while I also laugh... as I sleep.

                                                                Last night I thought of you,

                                                                and awoke

                                                                to my own laughter

                                                                of irony.

                                                                Yes, I really did.

                                                        

                                                                Maybe we will never know

                                                                 if my timing's too late,

                                                                or if a future romance

                                                                we will at some point obtain.

                                                                But we already know

                                                                our friendship will still forever remain...

                                                                or so we think.

                                                                This I guess,

                                                                is why I laugh

                                                                when I think of you.

                                                                 Even... when I'm asleep.

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