Your shrieking alarm clock, breaking
into heaving slumber, demands of you
a choice: do you close your tired eyes
against daylight’s insistent calling,
burrowing into soft sheets, and return
to sleep’s blissful embrace? Or do
you grit your teeth, arm yourself with
well-worn scraps of courage, and push
your dreams aside to stand and face
reality? The choice is yours each morning,
so be ready: when the ringing pierces your
unwilling ears, gather your strength and
choose to live, not rot away in slumber.