I lie awake in the night,
scratching and clawing at my skin.
Hoping if I peel the layers right,
I can shed the hell within.

Hoping to quiet the hellish howling –
the fear that threatens my every breath.
Hoping to stop the false visions warning
of an ever-approaching death.

Heart beating in my ears with a pounding,
like a deafening kettledrum.
Fear controls and surrounds me,
while Panic snatches the air from my lungs.

Surely there must a reason
that my spirit raps upon my prison door,
pleading for freedom
from the madness and utter horror.

Detached from all reality,
left to wander through my restless fears.
Waiting out every second,
begging to wake from this never-ending nightmare.

And after an intense battle cry,
sanity stands upon familiar foes.
But there’ll be no celebrating tonight –
tomorrow they’ll be back again for more.

photo credit: Averain via photopin cc