It all begins
When I close my eyes
To awaken
To the deep realm…
Sometimes it seems
So real
I must ask myself-
Once among the pillows
And safe between the sheets-
Do I slumber still?
Or is this just
Another reality;
Tucked so quietly
Within the folds of time
So that it seems to be
In my mind?
My mind a chained creature
Exploited
By a cobalt virus
Lurking as imagination.

Do I know what is real?
How can I not?
When these images
Are so clear
That I can almost
Taste the creeping demon
Crawling through
A desert of blood-
His arms outstretched
And gaping mouth
Whispering into my spirit
Words I do not understand
As the dark coils
Of ugly hatred
Expand so I can see no more
And make as if
To devour me whole
And spread like a disease,
Keeping me locked up
By an invincible
Icy grip-

The demon snakes closer
He is calling softly
I am unable to break free
A trigger in my mind-
Something isn’t right
There is something
I need to know-
The creature is clear
He is pulling himself
By his gray and rotting fingers
I can see his wrinkled,
Twisted face
Contorted in a shriek
That I hear only
As a murmur-
I am choosing
To block him out
To close my ears to him

He stirs a panging fear
He reaches me
His eyes deep sockets
And body covered in
Black-crimson gore
Hanging in clumps
From his bones
Like melting skin.

He extends him arms
The darkness holds me
His muscles are sinewy strings
Of deteriorating flesh
Yet he is slowly able
To feel for me-
His hand upon my face
Is like freezing rubber
It is so coarse it feels
Like razors
The stench on his breath
Is swallowing me
And the world spins
Faster and faster
And suddenly- - -

He puts his parched lips
Against my ear
And I hear him clear as day
The world becomes calm
And he says to me
In a voice like rust;
“The truth is this
Your fate is set
This dark world is all
You’ll ever get.”

I am released
And the universe opens
Like an enormous, starry door
I glimpse time
And it means nothing
There is no time past this world.

A beaming light
So powerful,
Bursts into my sight
Flooding my soul
And I finally understand- - -

There is hope yet.

I open my eyes.