Night Haunts Poem by Mary Champion

His eyelids closed
And sleep seeped through his mind;
Her gentle velvet fingers freed his thoughts
To wander through his rich, unguarded soul.
They chanced upon a memory so old
It seemed unreal.
But as it rose unsteadily to view
It took on life,
And, long before the picture floated through,
The tide of fear swept in as sleep shrank back.
Then he was left alone to face the night
With memories whose reasons had been lost,
Left nameless on the shoreline of his soul.

So nights turned into nightmares
Which he rode, pursued by fear.
Longing for the tender arms of sleep,
But dreading what her presence might reveal.
He tasted waking substitutes for dreams,
Seeking drugged forgetfulness and peace.
But all that they suppressed was why he feared.
The terror still broke through his haunted nights.