Tired but Awake

I’m tired, down-to-the-bone tired, the kind of tired that makes your eyes sting and your thoughts melt into each other. But sleep won’t come. I’ve been lying here for hours, breathing slow, flipping the pillow, finding the cold side, counting anything I can count just to quiet my head. But my mind keeps walking circles, keeps replaying things I don’t want to think about, whispering old memories into the dark like it knows I can’t escape them. My body is begging for rest, but my brain is wide awake a room with the lights left on, a door that won’t close, a song stuck on repeat I never even liked. And I’m just here, tired but awake, waiting for sleep to finally remember I exist.