I too sleep
with the light on

some nights
as I listen, closely
to the eerie stillness
that crouches right
outside the curtains
moving stealthily
through the needlepoint
I too am afraid
of the boogeyman

but he is no bed monster

instead
his facelessness glistens
in the scarlet aura skulking
around the cratered moon
and I am left to wonder
what metamorphosis
he will bring at day break
when the twitching begins
in a steady beat beneath
the tips of my calloused fingers
before roaming skyward
to my quickened heartbeat

too suddenly
I catch him lurking
in hastened breaths
too quick for my lungs
to catch the unsteady rhythm
and I imagine a windfall
the karmic revenge
that plagues every peak
just when I begin to notice
the slightest touch of solace
rising nervously behind
the mourning dawn

perhaps it’s the inner
rehabilitated optimist
that sends my soul shuddering
but since I have gulped
too often
from the overflowing chalice
of bittersweet reality

I wait, prepared
clinging tightly
to the florescent glow
that sits, bedside
deflecting the dusk
that beckons behind
drooping eyelids

07/15/2009

Posted on 07/16/2009
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