Diversions

Often, I awaken
in the middle of the night,
convinced there is something
I must do,
some complicated pathway
back to sleep.

I awaken from a dream,
a half-formed plan
receding from memory,
some urgency
that my dream self
would not abandon.

All these diversions
lure me away
from peace and rest,
towards goals
not understood,
not wanted,
or needed.

And often,
in the light of day,
I am likewise assailed
by waking dreams,
a myriad of imagined pursuits,
a million distractions
from the simple pleasures
of being.

Awakening
from this daylight dream,
I taste the fulness
of the moment,
a perfection
that takes no effort
to attain.