I Never Sleep Poem by Madhav Sarkunde

Forty years flew away
And I did not sleep a bit
I can’t afford to sleep.

And now-a-days
Incidents of burglaries
Are on high in my colony
Really, I terribly fear thieves.

But again there is nothing
In my home for them to steal
Only books are lying all over
And I remember to have heard
That the thieves hate books

Yet I am scared to death
What if some thief stole away
My dreams from within my heart?
I am all undone then!

Let the thieves take everything
I don’t bother at all. But I will not
Let them touch my prized dreams
It is only my dreams that keep me up
Watching doors and windows all night

My neighbors are under illusion
That I fall in a deep slumber. No way!
Never did I sleep little over forty years
I just lay on the bed holding my dreams
Close to my chaste.