Sunday, March 30, 2014

Radiant Nightmare (poem)

He wakes up at night,
Not sweating,
But scared.

His fingers shake
As he pours himself a drink,
Hard liquor to drown dreams.

He sits by the window
To gaze into an empty reality,
To purge her face from his mind.

This is the third night:
He wants to sleep,
But to sleep is to dream.

Sometimes nightmares are happy,
Filled with radiant people,
And light and warmth.

Sometimes happiness terrifies,
Makes courage tremble,
And nights unbearable.

He weeps at the image,
And fears what may follow
When next he shuts his eyes.

She is radiant beauty,
Playful, strong, loved,
Impossible to forget.

He fears her dream-image
Because she is real,
Because dreams are uncontrollable.

He tries to forget her,
As he thinks he should;
He cannot love her.

This is why he trembles
When there is warmth and light;
What seems good, a great evil.

Another drink before his eyes grow heavy,
And his heartbeat slowed.
One more shot before he falls victim again.

-Zero

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