Domestic Haiku at 3 a.m

 

  It's funny how the human brain works. I wrote a haiku type poem at 3 a.m. this morning. I had awakened from sleep as I often do around 3 a.m. and realized my husband was snoring. This is a ritual I'm sure many readers are familiar with.   As I have done many nights before, I grabbed my alarm clock and headed upstairs to finish my night's sleep in the guest bedroom. On the way up I passed my upright vacuum cleaner that I had taken upstairs a few weeks ago and never brought back down. I tell you this knowing full well that I'm revealing how infrequently I vacuum.  Anyway, as I passed the vacuum standing there in the dark, these words came into my head:

The vacuum cleaner

Stands sentry at the top of the stairs.

Will I ever run it?

    Okay, to you purists I know this is not a great artistic work and it violates true haiku form of 5-7-5 syllables, but for not even trying at 3 a.m., it was pretty close!  It makes me wonder what weird machinations of the human brain cause one to write verses about vacuum cleaners in the middle of the night. Have you ever had a similar experience? Do you think the human mind is more creative when half asleep? If you have any evidence of this from your own life, please share. I'd love to hear it!


UPDATE: Now that I've had some time to think about this, I have updated my poem to true haiku form -

The vacuum cleaner

Stands sentry in the darkness.

Dust sleeps unawares.

Wow, I never thought I'd get so creative over a vacuum cleaner. I feel a surge of more domestic haikus coming on....