Nocturne

In darkest night, in deepest fright,
I flee from demons; my fears take flight.
Across the black hills, beneath the red sky,
They swarm without mercy to see me die.

I scramble through darkness, my mind ablaze;
The void calls out, I see nothing but haze.
I stumble through ashes; my feet tramp on bones.
I stamp upon flesh; the man beneath me groans.

The horrors sweep across the land
With infinite terror at their command.
Silent and deadly they stride with grace;
They come without warning and leave without trace.

Here I am in my last moments of life;
With death approaching, I can feel the knife.
They come close enough; I see into their eyes-
Oh I wish I hadn’t, for I saw my own demise!

I drop to my knees and take one last breath;
Beneath the blood heavens I beg for my death.
Closing my eyes, I embrace the end;
From this world of madness I pray to transcend.

But just as I dread, I lived on instead,
For when I glimpsed those eyes so red,
I knew that night I will not be dead.

The end I saw in that lifeless stare
Invoked more scare than death and despair.
It foretold the torture of losing one’s mind-
To be cast into darkness and forever blind.