As the City Sleeps

By Tohm Bakelas

as the city sleeps

Four months from today
I’ll be 34, my hands have 
been trembling for some 
time. Sleep hasn’t been too 
good these days, exhaustion 
and boredom overwhelm me. 
I fiddle with death thoughts 
while microwaving leftover 
food and wonder why I am 
the way that I am. Long gone 
are the days where uncertainty 
meant absolute freedom. These, 
days, every day is predetermined 
by responsibilities to myself, my
job, and my children. Going 
through life afraid of shadows 
once had its appeal, but now, 
as the city sleeps, I dwell in 
shadows, I am a shadow. 

Tohm Bakelas is a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. He was born in New Jersey, resides there, and will die there. He is the author of twenty-five chapbooks and several collections of poetry, including “Cleaning the Gutters of Hell” (Zeitgeist Press, 2023).  

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