Upon Awakening

Upon awakening
I was told
That I'd been sleeping

That I'd be sleeping for a very long time

Beards had been grown

Not on me, of course
Thank goodness
But on others
And long beards too

Cartoon-ishly long beards

Upon awakening
My fingernails were in need of a trim
My hair was in need of cutting
My lips were chapped

So you see, I wasn't perfect
I had changed

Even lying perfectly still
I had changed

Upon awakening
I read poems
That were written about me

I had doctors
Place their hands on me
And pray
As if they were of the cloth
As opposed to people of science

I say people, but they were all men

Men with long beards

Beards that probably weren't there
When I first went to sleep

Dragons had disappeared
Giants were shorter
Sunlight was brighter

These were things I noticed

I didn't notice that I had developed an accent
An odd lilt, sort of British
That had come upon me while sleeping
And now refused to leave

It was strange, but not unpleasant
To be truthful, I encouraged it a little

Perhaps I shouldn't have, but I did

Upon awakening
My skin was fairer
And my lips, though chapped, were redder
My hair was blacker

I was more beautiful
Than I had been before
Although everyone insisted
That I had always been beautiful

Perhaps I had been
And I just hadn't felt it

How sad that would be

Upon awakening--

And I feel terrible saying this
But when I awoke

There was a part of me

That wanted to go back to sleep

Not because I hated what I found
When I woke up
But because...

I wasn't used to it

I wasn't used to being awake

And a part of
Just wanted
To go back

Into that floating nothingness

That anti-gravity

That sleep

A part of me just wanted
To change
And grow
And mature
And progress

In peace

In blissful
Silent
Peace