The man standing watch at the door to my dreams

Does little to veto our guests

And so snakes and cracked planes are ushered on in

To a house of chronic unrest

He unwinds in the room where I cannot sleep

There, indifferent to my escape

When he knows that he’ll prosper regardless of whether

My dreams live in slumber or wake

He’s the lens to the eyes that unshut to my day

Spreading veils across all who pass

And while from beneath some may smile, to me they beguile

Hidden guns aimed straight for my stars

Try as I might to shield their light

It’s me against a battalion

Of belittling hisses and venomous kisses

That send me to oblivion

Still, there’s solace in the one who never brings me peace

He, the master of my war

Who, to my despairing cries commands that I

Must do better and be more

Did I choose the thoughts he blares in my head?

Or are his the only I can hear?

Then, I’ll take the love that I know – the one in my shadow

So I’m not alone with my fear