The Door Opens...

Foot steps quietly creep up the stairs
body stiffens wondering who's there
closer and louder i hear the sounds
body paralyzed but the heart pounds

screaming out but no one hears
silent screams just add to my fear
i can't move as much as i try
deafening - louder - am i to die?

stay calm, relax and lay still
i must be sound asleep i feel
i will the deafening steps to cease
only waking will i find peace

peace alas i fail to find
the din reverberates in my mind
attempted moves only fill my head
with closer louder steps instead

my lungs are heavy legs are lead
is this what it feels like to be dead
my eyes search the foreboding night
what is it that's giving me this fright


the door opens and i glare
i feel the omnipresence right there
time stands still as i implore
cease stop please! no more

release me from this fear and pain
i want a world where i can move again
my eyes open and i see the light
the door opens and lets out the night


what is that spectre that visits me
that comes and goes repeatedly
i read about sleep paralysis
that's my "ghost" was  the analysis



The Nightmare - Henry Fuseli
Oil on canvas

Peaceful Moment

I reached the top of the segment where the trail flattened out before me. Specs of blue and yellow danced about a sea of green greeting me as I caught my breath from my first climb.

Yet it was not this breath-taking view of above and beyond that caught my gaze... but a golden gleam of orange illuminated by the warm early spring sun that captured my glance and warmed my thoughts.

My what a splendid sight of this jewel glowing so bright! Her dance gave me a feeling of warmth inside... Shimmering and bobbing up and down with pride, as if in praise of my every stride. I pause for while to admire her show. I exclaim, "Oh California poppy! You raise my spirit so! You are the sign of spring!"  She nodded her head in agreement as the soft warm breeze brushed her petals.

 She softened and embraced me with her beauty and glow. I resumed my own dance along the trail embracing my encounter with a moment of peace.