Ink-and-paper waves

I wish that my eyes
could stop time
when they are shielded from the sunlight
the sand stops flowing
mid-air
suspended

and people are frozen
mid-step, mid-kiss, mid-sentence
like painted figures on the street
grant them a look
and they will breathe again

So much is required of me
and weary, I slip, I sink
beneath the ink-and-paper waves

when all I really want to do
is
sleep
.