REM Sleep

There’s such an odd window in between sleep and dream, between dream and awakening, such a mental clarity that brings memories back to us in vivid detail. For the past eight months I’ve been getting up about every two hours a night to feed our dying cat Dusty. Each interval he comes to the foot of our bed and yowls until I get up. Thus, for these eight months I’m REM sleeping almost the entire night, dreaming in great detail. You might wonder why I don't just leave enough food to last him through the night. But it's canned food, and what he doesn't eat turns hard and ugly and he won't touch it. So I, like a new father, get up for tiny nightly feedings. And sometimes after I return wearily to my bed and fall asleep again, I find myself in that middle state of clarity. Last night I heard Perry Como singing “Near You,” all the lyrics there in my ears. Then I slid left and heard the nonsense song, “Chickeree Chick.” All of it. When I got up it was gone, even the title. So I went to the information network on the computer, searching through Silly Songs + 40’s. I must have gone through a dozen sites before I gave it up. Then I searched Nonsense Lyrics + 40’s. Went through another dozen sites and stumbled onto a guest comment asking about “Chickeree Chick,” and then it was back to me. “Chickaree chick, chala chala, checkalromy in a bananica, bollica wollica, can't you see, chickaree chick, is me.” Now I just have to get it out of my mind again. I thoroughly enjoy those moments of clarity, but I do miss my deep sleep. As long as he holds onto life, I’ll continue the nightly feedings.