Rested

”নি ঝুম I” by Sujash Purna

I rewatch a documentary on homicidal sleepwalking

Clip a newspaper article about a child
found snoring              atop a 130-foot crane

Heard about another               who jumped out a window
found tangled              in a bush, still dozing

Is it sleepwalking if 
I only slide off my mattress
drift
to the floor
slip under the bed
like uncreased             paper

What's in a dream
that sends someone leaping            through glass
blind             as a kitchen knife is drawn
squeezed    beneath a bedframe 

My doctor said I will outgrow it
somnambulism
said therapy will relieve
the haunting dreams
of

falling asleep at the wheel
Running warm water over a blood stain
stretching my arms out
prepared to catch the drifting
sleeping child
with a halo
of glass

But I withdraw my reach
Slam my forehead into           bed slats 

Resurrected by the ice machine          thumping 
like a body                  yanked
from the bed 
to the
floor

About the author

Cameron Bocanegra is a queer Latina and marketing writer who dreams vividly most nights. She's a third-generation Austinite and enjoys biking past downtown traffic and reading The Austin Chronicle. She studied English education and journalism at Baylor University and graduated in 2020. You can find her at cambocanegra.com. 

About the artist

Sujash Purna is a Bangladeshi poet and photographer based in Madison, Wisconsin. He is the author of Epidemic of Nostalgia (Finishing Line Press) and Azans for the Infidel (Mouthfeel Press). His poetry appeared in South Carolina Review, Hawai`i Pacific Review, Kansas City Voices, Poetry Salzburg Review, Gutter, Stonecoast Review, and others. His photography can be found on Instagram @poeticnomadic