For the past few months, probably thanks to the diabetes, Happy has developed issues with sleeping. Some nights he will crawl into bed and lay blissfully until morning, but other nights he will sit up and stare for a time before jumping out of his bed and marching back and forth. On a good night, after a couple of times being taken out he will settle down, but some nights he will pace for hours, sometimes until 2 or 3 in the morning.

This poem was inspired by one of those late nights where desperate as I was to sleep, Happy could not get comfortable and the only hope of rest was to crawl out of bed and spend an hour or two playing soothing hymns and classical music until he finally relaxed and went to sleep.

Unfortunately the pain and misery caused by diabetes and arthritis has caused Happy to struggle to fall asleep and has led to quite a few sleepless nights.

I Will Not Sleep

By Katherine B. Parilli

I will no sleep.

I will not sleep I say.

I will march,

I will stare into the sky,

I will bark,

I will cry,

I will shout,

I will pout,

But I will not sleep.

It is so hard to see Happy struggle to find a comfortable spot that will allow him and everyone around him, to finally fall asleep.

Tired I may be.

with eyelids may hang down to my little paws,

Yet I will not sleep.

I will not lay down upon my warm and comfy bed.

I will not relax my little head,

even though every fiber of my body doth long for rest.

But I will determinedly march on,

Pacing and crying from midnight until dawn.

You may weep,

You may cry,

You may reason,

You may complain,

You may even beg,

But still I will march,

Still I will pace,

Until the pain,

Until the ache

Shall quiet down.

And at last

with a long sigh of relief

my tired head

can find some much needed rest.

But what joy doth fill our hearts when his wary pacing does cease, and he finally drifts into a well deserved night of sleep.