One-Eyed Cats and Night Sweats

Huddled in a corner of a darkened room,

Caught in a state not quite asleep, but not yet awake,

I flail my arms to ward off the demons

Like the one-eyed cat that pounces upon my chest.

Whose razor-sharp talons draw forth blood,

And pull me screaming back to reality.

But, when I wake up I find reality

To be constricting, with no breathing room.

I struggle to grasp the concept of being awake

Among the real fears that are worse than the demons

Of my dreams that cause a thudding in my chest

And a night sweat-soaked shirt that smells of blood.

The neon outside my window is the color of blood;

The flashing sign, a reminder of the reality

Of the sterile emptiness of my lonely room.

A place where every morning I awake

After a fitful sleep filled with demons

That leave a dreadful pounding in my chest.

My heart beats loudly in my heaving chest

As I recall gory dreams soaked in blood

That are not so different from the reality

That awaits me just outside my room.

The fears I must face when I am awake;

To be chased again by the persistent demons.

Ask me if you must about the demons

Who perch in anticipation on the corner chest

With sharpened fangs awash in blood.

They are the essence of reality;

They crowd my existence, leaving little room

For me to know if I'm sleeping or awake.

When I think that I'm awake,

I look around a corner and see demons

The heavy burden weighing upon my chest

Where shadows are tinged with the tint of blood,

They make me question the existence of reality.

In the corner of my darkened room.

.

I know the demons are my reality;

The blood-covered claws upon my chest;

The one-eyed cat in my room when I'm awake.