The Star Wars Bed-time Story

Since middle school,

whenever I've had trouble sleeping,

I've watched Star Wars.

Not that it's boring -

quite the contrary.

I've attentively viewed it

countless times - 

memorizing every line,

investigating every character,

researching every ship.

It's to the point now

where Star Wars is less of a movie

and more of a familiar bedtime story

that Uncle George tells me

whenever I have trouble sleeping.

I get so absorbed in the story so quickly,

forgetting my sickness or worries,

that I'm down for the count

before Darth Vader's been able 

to lift, strangle, and toss

Captain Antilles to the floor

of the Tantive IV, Leia's Corellian Corvette.

The volume doesn't need to be up

and I don't need to watch the screen;

I can see and hear it all in my mind,

keeping pace based on certain cues:

blasts, roars, John Williams' score.

And even after using this trick

for over 15 years

the efficacy hasn't faded, 

though if I have several rough nights in a row,

I'll go from A New Hope, to Empire, to Jedi.

I can't express how much this means

to have, when life gets too low and mean,

a ready and reliable dream

so universal and personal and
real

it convinces me I must be
asleep.