Telrao

Dreaming

With a light touch, as a feather
white and clean, bright and soft
sweet and smooth, eyes open
to a world full of light.

Warm impressions caress,
thoughts spin like pinwheels.
I see so clearly here and yet
all is fuzzy, indistinct.

Drifting, like a leaf on the breeze
Hither and thither, this way and that
Thought to thought, memory to memory.
Reality seems distant, within hand’s reach.

The sky is blue, now purple, now pink
Shifting colours that blend
Like watercolour, delicate and soft
Bright and vibrant, life-filled.

Light fades to grey, bleeding
darker, deeper, darker, deeper
I’m falling, falling, falling
down and down and deeper.

Blackness surrounds, slips
closer, creeping and salivating.
Fangs, sharp eyes glittering, claws
tearing at my heart, my mind, my soul.

Fears, doubts, voices
Scream, howl, quarrel-
My own voice, screaming
As the water closes over me and-

With a breath, I jolt awake
The nightmare now a cold sweat.
I breathe slowly, sit back,
Watching the sunlight grow.