No matter how old you get
the nightmare still horrifies
the scream for help is just
a whisper
the thrashing in hostile arms
hopeless
but still…

there’s a last hard push for
recognition and the strangled
cry for “Mamma!” that awakens
and you turn on the light with
heart to bursting and wild eyes
searching dark corners and

the smell of fear in the room.
What does it mean that in your
fifth decade you still cry
for mamma in the middle of
the night?

_____________________________

So, yes, I had a terrible nightmare last night. The kind where you don’t want to go back to sleep but I finally did – with the light on. I wonder what it all means and I have a vague feeling of  unease that it’s an omen. Even though I’m not superstitious.