Sleepless Nights, Days That Never End

           'we are all just prisoners here, of our own device'

                                         the Eagles - Hotel California

Erikson famously posits

life occurs

in

eight stages

The last being

ego integrity

versus

despair

Ego

(a Freudian construct

that Erikson

reworked to

make ego

the most important

of Freud's triumvirate)

Integrity

(that state of

honesty and moral principles)

Battles despair

The old man

sitting in the darkness

of his sleepless

night

ponders

the integrity

of his ego

and despairs

There is no

resolution

for what was done

in the past

and he wonders

being a ruminant

about the future

Deciding

that his future is

only memories

of his past

realizing

ends justified

are still ends

knowing

nothing matters

at this stage

It is time to go

home

'Relax' said the night man,
'We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like,
But you can never leave!'

       – Hotel California