I crawl unnoticed
into your bed,
having done so many times before.
I know you.
Familiar is always inviting.
The warm sheets, welcoming pillows
bound reflexively around you.
I am that inch of the bed
you never knew.
Darkness and discomfort rapidly infect
the free-spirited bliss that befriends you daily
Toss left.
Toss right.
Your brain in my hands,
a black slab of clay
Open your eyes,
all that seemed so clear, now
clouded like a stone dropped
into still shallow water.
I decide to unchain you,
for you may manage your physical existence, but
I am the puppeteer of your alternate reality.