Dark circles under my eyes
People wonder if I’m abused.
I wake up in the night,
Screaming and confused.

I have these nightmares
Whenever I close my eyes.
Silently I bite my fists
So none can hear my cries.

Shotgun to the forehead
Held in my own hands
Held down by a familiar man
Made to meet demands.

Being beaten,
Being strangled,
Fingers crushed,
Body mangled.

Watching all my loved ones die,
Needles pushed into my eyes,
Laughed at by those whom I despise,
Smothered by a horde of flies.

Head under the water
Drowning silently
No matter how the nightmares start
They always end so violently.

My covers can’t protect me
From that which I most fear
Those nightmares slowly kill me
I all but disappear.

I wake up shaking,
Cold sweat drenched,
Breath all harsh and labored,
Knuckles white and clenched.

I don’t know how to stop them,
But they scare me evermore.
All this horror in my sleep
Is impossible to ignore.

I’m scared to death of what I see,
The mere thought can make me shake
But the only thing more frightening
Is what I think when I’m awake.