Uneasy Sleep

...caught up in a 
nightmare jungle of 
ochre skies and broken- 
glass trees whose 
shattered leaves wail 
in off-key discord 
I wonder aimlessly; 
lost in self-absorbed apathy; 
toward a dead horizon 
vultures circling overhead... 

...I find myself within 
myself,outside myself 
looking on myself. 
The spectral aura of 
anxiety, mistrust 
frustration and fear 
surrounds me; heckling 
and nagging, driving me 
this way and that. 
I see myself flounder, 
drowning in a sea of confusion 
"Hey, wake up!" I yell 
but I don't listen; 
empty echoes falling 
where there are no ears... 

...drifting on the ether 
above, I look down and 
watch you saunter towards 
me; invitation gleaming 
in your eyes. 
A dearth of emotion 
swells my heart and 
I step towards you 
with open arms 
but the image blurs and 
it is no longer 
the titian-haired girl 
I know from the mirror 
but a stranger you 
reach so eagerly for. 
"No!" I cry as the 
gossamer threads of dream 
that bind I to Me 
snap and fling me screaming 
headlong into a 
tunnel of blackness... 

...I see the clock, 
indigo glow of reality, 
what seemed a lifetime 
has been but an hour 
I lay back, haunted 
by nightmare images 
in surreal color; 
choking on the acrid 
taste of the nowhere 
I have been, wondering 
if there is hidden meaning 
in the repititious recurrence 
or am I slowly 
going mad... 
Body and soul weary 
I seek solace in 
the warming curves of 
you, your heat wends it's 
way through my body 
smoothing away the knotted 
weave of taut nerves and flesh. 
As the tension eases 
I feel the erstwhile 
arms of Morpheus reach 
out to enfold me 
and I drift off to 
uneasy sleep...

Author - Beth Thompson
Copyright © Jan1999

Webmaster: Cynthia Proctor / A Dove's Nest

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