Night
I go to bed when my parents tell me
An hour before the news
But the night light doesn't shine bright enough
The darkness creeps in about me
And the dreams eat into my sleep as if they were worms
In an apple
I'm nearly wide-eyed when I fall asleep
red, glowing
waiting
just below the sandy soil
sensing the foot fall
just before
a booted heel
touches above
it rips up through the dirt to tear into the shoe
and eat at the foot
Crawling through a sheet-metal maze
Knees ache
But I know what is happening and I'm trying to reach them to
Warn them
I reach an exhaust vent and yell, but my voice is blown back at me
others are ripping up through the dirt to claim their feet
soldiers are falling shooting their feet, screaming as they fall
into the chaos of living sand
as they hit, others explode to feed wherever touches above them
the ground turns red
like the open wounds of those who have stepped into a mine field
My friends fall and I can do nothing
I rattle the vent's grate and yell warnings
screams, blood, things, all litter the ground with terror
He wakes, panting like a dog in August
His t-shirt clings to his wet neck like a love that was lost in the wind
His eyes dart about the room looking for solace where there is none
It was a dream
I'm in my bed, I'm ok, there is nothing living in the sand
Why don't I have dreams where I am not helpless?
Why don't I have nice dreams where I get the girl?
I'll listen to some music
There was no more sleep, the sun arrived and there might be time
For an hour or so of rest