I am wrapped in the vivid dream of watching a door slam itself
followed by the mattress giving way to the weight of someone not there
at least to the naked eye
I see something moving towards me - green mass - alive with energy
reaching out as it approaches
I am but a child in these dreams and I awaken to the screams of an old man
sweat upon my brow
stark straight in a panic until my heart stops racing
these vivid nightmares come nightly now
during and after sleep

my thirst has deepened and they are aware
my unbridled curiosity draws them to me
I am both terrified and mystified by their presence
Once relegated to the outside world,
they have arrived at my home and their reluctance ended
with a touch on my foot as it dangled precariously off the mattress edge
each with a small electric charge

it is a journey I choose because they choose me
I believe I have passed the test for they have yet to dissuade me
I have learned but a sentence of a book yet unread
I have barely whispered in these endless halls

where I go from here I am not sure
perhaps to shorten the distance between the physical and the after
by relaying the word that this is not the end
but rather the beginning of the immortal spirit