“Skeletal Remains”
In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed—
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.
The sighing wind
gives breath to the darkness,
the stars lighting the ebony sky
like pinpricks of God’s grace
that pierce the blackened heavens
with dazzling white.
Who would dare disturb this quiet, wake those
that haunt deserted paths? Best
seek safety in the North Star, our pilot light
In visions of the dark night.
My eyelids close,
lids lowered against
the terrors that make me tremble and seek
solace beneath warm cotton covers.
The witching hour strikes–
a time too late for the faint-hearted
that quake and shake and turn away
from what they–what we–cannot bear to face:
the lonely dead, quiet and disregarded.
I have dreamed of joy departed—
What dreams may come
to those that can not face their fears?
Sheltering beneath shut lids
holds no solace for those
whose frightful visions follow them
beyond the veil of sleep: the blight
of a million cares and worries,
the looming spectre of loneliness
a demon–no longer safely tucked out of sight
But a waking dream of life and light.
The daytime hours
contain the demons that
haunt my nightly dreams.
I look within myself each dusk
–trapped between the sun’s escape
and the rising mercurial moon,– unguarded
yet I find imprisoned courage.
When shall I be released?
This time–too long before I meet my dear departed–
Hath left me broken-hearted.
*glosa of “A Dream” by Edgar Allan Poe, written for the Day 9 prompt of #ReadWritePoetry courtesy of Cuyahoga Library, in honor of National Poetry Month
**image courtesy of BigFoto.com
Cat Russell 
