Nightmare

I sit there on my mattress,
knees hugged tightly to my chest.
I've turned my pillow over a thousand times tonight,
and still the nightmare remains.

The silence around me
echoes with a ghostly howl.
The sound of his voice,
The man I see when my eyes close again.

He holds no knife,
no weapon, no demonic horns,
nothing but his words, and yet
they stab through my conscious the same.

I stare at my watch forever,
even though it still says 1 o’clock.
I blink, and a tear trickles
down my face

Like a comfort to me,
telling me I’m still safe
and not lost to the black and white
memories in my mind.