Penny for a Poem

Dreams Stead

I close my eyes, yearning for sweet repose, for visions of joy to dance in my head.
But as consciousness fades, my fear still grows, for terrors await me in my dream's stead.
Oh, how I long for fields of endless light, where laughter echoes and sorrows dissolve.
To soar on wings of fancy through the night, free from the chains that my waking days involve.
I'd paint my dreams with colors yet unseen, build castles in clouds that float ever high.
I'd write my story anew, scene by scene, and banish the darkness with hope's bright cry.
But wishes are whispers lost in the wind, as nightmares crawl from their lightless lairs.
They mock the peace that I cannot rescind, these terrors that follow me everywhere.
They wear the faces of my deepest fears, shadows given form in the mind's dark realm.
Their claws rake through memories of years, threatening to drag me below the helm.
I run through corridors of fractured thought, pursued by demons born of doubt and dread.
Each corner turned reveals the battles fought, in waking life, now haunting my night's bed.
Even in moments of fleeting respite,
When dreams start to shimmer with promised bliss, the terrors lurk, patient, out of sight, ready to shatter this fragile premise.
I wake with a start, heart pounding, alone, sheets tangled, testament to nightly strife.
The boundary blurs 'tween flesh and bone, and horrors that plague my dreaming life.
Yet still I yearn, with each setting sun, for dreams that heal, that lift, that inspire.
Though terrors may come when day is done, hope's ember in my soul refuses to expire.
For dreams, though elusive, are not yet lost, and nightmares, though strong, are not yet won.
Each night's a battle, with sleep the cost, but I'll face my fears till dreaming's done.
So I'll close my eyes and dare to dream, despite the shadows that threaten to overwhelm.
For in this nightly war, things aren't as they seem, and one day, perhaps, peace will rule this realm.