[Susan McLean]

Though sleepless, I am risk-averse.
I toss and turn. It could be worse.
I could be stumbling, more than pissed,
a narcotized somnambulist,
wearing pyjamas in the street,
splashing through puddles with bare feet.
I could be gorging mindlessly
or driving blindly towards a tree.
I’ll take insomnia instead:
still wide awake, but safe in bed.

A few questions for British readers of this: Is Ambien sold under that name in the UK? Are these side effects widely known there?

Because I was informed that in the UK the drug is sold under the name Stilnoct, I changed it and made some minor changes to punctuation and wording. But then I learned that brand names of sleep drugs are less known in the UK, so I have gone more generic.