Night Terrors
 
Mum and dad think I am mad,
Raving lunatic, certifiably crazy.
I just wish they would just come and see,
What visits my window each night.
 
They laugh at my fears,
Tell me it is only nightmares.
And yes, dear parents, it is a nightmare,
This nocturnal visitor that requests entrance.
 
After I doze, not quite fast asleep,
Fingernails on glass stir me.
I pull the covers up tight
And glance towards the window.
 
His face still, after all this time shocks me.
He grins with an evil smile,
Hunger in his red eyes glowing in the night,
As my name is uttered from his forked tongue.
 
The first visits sent me sobbing into my parents’ room.
But after their disbelief and mocking,
I stayed trembling in my bed,
Tears wetting my cheeks.
 
This torture cannot last.
My will is fast breaking.
My world does not accept me,
Then by chance his world will.

Roy Richard
June 2024