Nightmares

By Madhavi Sepuri Karri

Each night silence-laden heavens

Watch tousled oceans writhe as they dream

Drenched in dire omens unnamed to tame

Everywhere mares of the night have run amok

Uncoordinated yet conclusive in intent

Dreamscapes drenched in ebony and ivory

Knock at every sleeping door

Moon backpedals under its tumultuous burden

Bracing itself for a night of guaranteed exigencies

Drunken stars seek temperance

Spluttering at the sight of overflowing inkiness

Fragrances of the spring night stultify unappreciated

Savage echoes of sundry stench emulsify in turn

Birds and beasts jittery in their skins

Surrender to the thunder of the galloping mares

I see myself standing still in a fog of fear

Terrors of night unambiguous

Memories repressed and rendered voiceless

Gaining foothold on a war footing

Dark dark frenetic dark everywhere

Spread like the massive wings of a carrion bird

Stench of darkness diffusing like aerosol spray

Slow infusion set to speed anxiety uncoils

Hissing and spitting like a Russell's viper

Nowhere to hide salvation is not near

Just the span of the night to get clear

On and on they raged and ravaged

Oceans thrashed in fresh agony

Sky turned inside out and empty eyed

Dead trees began to die again

While we waited as we tossed and turned

For healing rays of the first light

To ligate the long arm of dread

To awaken us back into the mutable world

As mutely we bear this ornately structured misery

By Madhavi Sepuri Karri