Dreamscape

Fear twists itself

around me:

legs wrapped over

my waist and its arms

restraining mine

We stumble to the precipice

teetering towards

the empty expanse

of the Dreamscape

it’s doors open before us

We take the plunge like this—

entwined—and

the darkness envelops me

gravity dragging our shared form

headfirst towards the emptiness

fear never reducing the

strength of its grip

and we sink,

my chest tight

as if water has rushed

into it

I am helpless here —

the more I struggle

against fear the

tighter the chains

of its hold become

and the air is

streaked with smoke

take a deep breath

and I choke

hazy hallucinations seep

into my mind

mixing with the memories

of when I could breathe

Peacefully I give myself

to the empty

until Fear has finally

set me free

I float

lazily drifting through clouds

refusing to look down

at you, the nightmares

I have successfully drowned

Vines of imagination stretch and curl,

vapors of mist bend and twist

into distorted shapes

wisps of white violets and

daisies with thorns

I reach out and my skin is torn

on the sharpest edge of

the Dreamscape’s moon—

eternally shaped in

a Cheshire Cat smile—

smudging crimson onto

every star I pass