Nightmare Poem

Today, I woke up shivering with cold.
Left inside me was nothing but despair.
My soul was robbed of all that’s strong and bold.
Since I was visited by the most hideous nightmare.

The next night I was lying in bed, my eyes open wide
as Hypnos and I were playing hide and seek.
I tried to evade him, but he wanted me for his bride.
Suddenly something tapped on my shoulder …

and a dark voice started to speak.

‘Turn around, wretched soul, don’t hide your face!
Look me in the eye, despair, then break down and cry!
You’ll never evade me, for I’ll always give chase …
from now on and always till the day you die!’

And a nameless terror crept inside my heart …
was it time to say good-bye?

I felt a growing chill deep inside my bones.
The night terror was hissing in, oh, so many tones.
Not one voice, but many! that came out of its throat.
I didn’t turn around, I daren’t turn around …
for behind me, I felt a hiss before it finally smote.

But before it struck, a sudden thought pervaded every corner of my feverish mind …
hey, turn around, don’t hide, look it in the eye, or are you blind?

‘No!’ I cried in anguish, ‘I am not blind,
neither am I deaf, nor mute, nor any of the kind.
It’s just this fear I sense deep within my heart,
this terrible feeling that soon I will part.’

A deep sadness … unspeakable and buried beneath
my cheerful mask – like a sword in its sheath.
Yes, I’m scared and confused and terrified at the thought
that my parting will take place unnoticed … unfought.

Who will weep for me? Who will miss the length of my hair?
Who will think of me once in a while? Who will care?
Oh, I know … yes, I know – it’s not my place to make a demand,
and it just shows how lonely in this world I really stand.

And finally, now do I understand: This nightmare of mine
was nothing but a mirror of my own demons – fine!
So, no more running, no hiding,
no fleeing, no crying.

I turned around to face my worst nightmare
and was greeted by a creature uglier than I could bear.
Still, I held my head up high, frowning – defying the beast.
I’d give it a fight, not caring, not afraid in the least.

So there we were staring at each other … what the deuce!
I wouldn’t back down, no! even if hell broke loose.
This nightmare of mine must have seen my determination.
I sensed it, I felt it … this hideous beast’s agitation.

Suddenly my inner strength grew fast in direct proportion
to the features of my fiend that started showing distortion.
Until, finally, it lost all countenance and expression,
till it was bare of power, of might and of all aggression.

And so …

The beast fell to its knees, disbanded and faded away,
just like the dark shadows of a silly nightmare on a beautiful day.