<koertge's "a guide to refreshing sleep"> 2003-05-01.12:24 a.m. A Guide to Refreshing Sleep Ronald Koertge It is best to remember those nights when grown-ups were singing and breaking glass and someone who smelled good carried you up hushed stairs toward strange cold bedrooms to be launched on a dark lake of coats. If Memory does not suffice, you may summon the obvious mascots of sleep, but forego counting. It is miserly. They will come and stand by your bed, nodding their graceful Egyptian heads, inviting you across the crooked stile to one of those hamlets nestled between blue hills where the curious are curious about sleep, the enthralled are enthralled with sleep, and the great conclusion is always, "It's time for bed." Look--a cottage door stands open. On the night table is a single candle, yellow sheets are turned back, and in the garden are marshaled the best dreams in the world. Lie down. The horrible opera of the day is over. Close your eyes, so the world which loves you can go to sleep, too. back /& forth /& frosting names are often sad