Once upon a moonlit grove
A cluster of souls interwove.
Jovial jests and fleeting love,
Drunken blunders, senses asunder.
Do the heavens look down and wonder
Of the woes burning us down under?

"Light in the dark,"
Yet nothing more
Than candlelight
In a bleak room,
With secrets in the shadows,
And more within the bellows.

Hidden from peering ravens,
Ensuring no one fathoms
Or remembers your transgressions;
So we dismiss your deceptions.

Those fragile walls you hide behind
Will soon crumble. Oh yes, beware.
For beacons of white will shine through,
One by one, destroying the veil.

Naked to the heavens,
A feast of carrions.
Burnt bridges,
Fake pledges.
A decision to confess and make sense of the mess,
Or to cover 'em up again, but burn with the rest.

An embrace from the gentle fall breeze.
At last, I begin to feel at ease.
The smell of autumn,
The cool air,
The pallet of the drifting leaves -
All within a moment to seize.

I ponder at the chaos
Made colorful and pristine.
But what is the cost
Of this calming scene?
Am I to simply descend,
Or can I remain and stand?

While mulling over more complaints,
On my hand landed a small leaf
Whose fickle state and faint brown taint
Rested like a sigh of relief.

Heavy chest. Chained limbs.
Vivid senses, but a blurred vision.
Awake, but hope dims
As the bed becomes a grim prison.
It's from these deceiving dreams, I believe,
And the tempting embrace of slumber
Into which woes I'd sought to relieve.

Alas, here I lay.
Frozen senses, but some - sound, sight, touch -
Remain to parlay
Those who love the shadows o so much.
Is that my mother? No, it can't be.
But who stands there, watching at my side?
Could it be my sister to wake me?

The same vague figure
Always at the ready to deceive
And eager to lure
Me, tried and worn, from the bed to leave.
Possessing my mother's sweet, soft voice,
Imitating my father's presence,
Holding me down, leaving me no choice.

Tied at all my limbs,
At the chest too; there is no escape.
I hear the grim hymns
Of that shadowy figure, whose shape
Embraces my body - I can't breathe!
More than my mind, at times, it will ****.
All I can do is hope to be free.

It all feels so real.
To the bed I'm pinned as these horrors
Make way with such zeal.
I can't even scream, despite the tortures.
Breathing heavily, I try to move,
Watching what else the figure conjures.
It's for these nightmares, to sleep, I rue.

Burn, fire. Burn.
Spread thy blaze upon broken *******
Of meek men and woeful women.
Cast thy roaring flames into their sore hearts,
For no longer shall they lend submission
To the cold deceits of their perdition.