Every time I close my eyes,
I'm afraid of what I'll see.
A strange awareness of another place,
Images that haunt me.

Flashes of another life,
And strangers that are familiar.
Situations ranging from the mundane,
to terrifying and peculiar.

Some of the experiences,
Are familiar and repeat.
Some are new and yet unseen,
Uncertain to defeat.

The images are clear and vivid,
With color, scent and sound.
Shackled to this alternate reality,
No keys yet, that I've found.

The blood is always red,
And the murky water flows.
I'm suffocating and paralyzed,
As the dark lady shows.

Sometimes I scream and yell and thrash around,
A strong urge to awaken.
Powerless to control,
The roads that must be taken.

My dream world is upside down,
My thoughts turned inside out.
My realities all blend together,
It's hard to figure out.

It's harder than one thinks,
To stop the shadow world.
From creeping in and lingering,
Like a dust cloud that's been swirled.

So I lie in bed, yet again tonight,
Hoping to escape.
From the wickedness that calls my name,
From under the long, dark drape.