Night Terrors

He lies next to me

Gentle rhythmic rise

Fall of the diaphragm

A child's noise

To protect, yet traumatise

I cannot be alone.

I cannot cry

Sleep is too far

Paralysed with fear

Fear of the terror of the night

Fear of the terror of tomorrow.

I dream.

Of nightmare faces

Distorted clowns,

Twisted tribal masks

Decapitated heads

With necks of authority.

My thrashing shadow of Nosferatu

Reflected upon the walls

Hands clawed.

His head fallen in the cracks between the bed

A woman climbs through the window

Death abounds.

I dream.

I kill.

I dispose.

The body parts slip through my fingers

I pass a doll’s house, strewn with blood

The corridors do not end

If I don’t, he will kill me

A butcher’s block lies ready.

I am responsible.

The ills are mine.

I convulse

Stiffened against waking

This is not real

Insults are traded in my dreams

All my fears

All my fears.

I awake.

Broken faces remain

A room that seems too small.

I sweat. I drip.

The sheets are soaked.

A cold nightmare

I awake.

The looks say no

The want says yes.

I cannot know what will happen

Knowing it will happen.

But this is not my time.