NIGHTMARES

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I can’t forget the time I spent

Putting out the fires

Though I try my best, I never do

No matter my desires

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I go to sleep and try to think

Of nothing but my wife

But I lie in bed, and live again

The chaos of my life

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My shoulder aches, and I return

To the night upon the ladder

Suddenly it slips, and I grab ahold

Of a lightpost I had straddled

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From on the roof, four hands appear

Grab me by the arm

They pull me up, and though I feel the pain

They keep me safe from harm

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So I roll over and change positions

To try to continue sleeping

But now my knee begins to ache

And I picture myself creeping

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As I crawl along a smoky floor

I fall headfirst in a hole

Hurtling downward toward the dark

I fear for my very soul

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But just in time, a brother saves me

By lunging on my knee

He keeps me from falling into the pit

And drags me up, I’m free

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Once again I moan, and try to find

A comfortable spot on the bed

As I finally begin to drift asleep

I see visions in my head

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I see a baby with her face chewed off

Another under a truck

A young man crushed in an elevator

Where he had gotten stuck

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I picture a family dead on the stairs

Who had tried to get out

A baby pulled lifeless from his room

And I hear his mother shout

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I wake up sweating, get out of bed

And get myself a drink

Take some pills and wash them down

While standing by the sink

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After a moment, the shaking subsides

And I’m ready to try again

As I pull the covers over my head

I try to shut down my brain

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It works for awhile, but then I feel

A throbbing in my neck

And once again I’m back in time

To a night I’d rather forget

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Every night, it’s always the same

As soon as I go to bed

It seems the pain I feel in my body

Triggers the pain in my head

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Copyright 2005 - Tom Kenney