Our poet-in-residence Kwame Alexander is a big fan of the power nap.
Research shows how restorative naps can be. Has it been that way for you? Tell us in the form of a poem.
For inspiration, Alexander cites an excerpt from Margaret Atwood's poem "Variation on the Word Sleep."
"I would like to watch you sleeping
Which may not happen
I would like to watch you
Sleeping. I would like to sleep
With you, to enter
Your sleep as it's smooth dark wave
Slides over my head
And walk with you through that
lucent
Wavering forest of bluegreen leaves
With its watery sun and three moons
Towards the cave where you must descend
Towards your worst fear
I would like to give you the silver
Branch, the small white flower, the
One word that will protect you
From the grief at the center
Of your dream..."
(From Selected Poems II: 1976-1986 by Margaret Atwood. Copyright © 1987 by Margaret Atwood).
While that poem is not exactly about napping, it is about sleeping, love and other things.
It ends with this line: "I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary."
Now we welcome your own poems about all things napping—rest, relaxation, rejuvenation, dreams. All of it.
Your poem must start with or incorporate the phrase "I would like to..." That's it.
Share your poem through the form below. Alexander will take lines from some of your pieces and create a community crowdsourced poem. Alexander and NPR's Rachel Martin will read it on air, and NPR will publish it online, where contributors will be credited.
The form closes on Friday, March 10.
By providing your Submission to us, you agree that you have read, understand and accept the following terms in relation to the content and information (your "Submission") you are providing to National Public Radio ("NPR," "us" or "our"):
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