i awoke from the darkness into more darkness, a palpable black that coats the world

noises from beyond, shouting and breaking glass, this feels so familiar somehow

crawling forward it dawn’s upon me that this a closet, and one i know too well

i stand and reach for door knob, well aware of what comes next and open the door

light floods my safe place and i flinch from it, nearly as much from the view i see

glass glitters like diamonds on the floor, empty cans litter the table in the center of the room

they stand, facing each other with red faces and hatred burning in their eyes

i want to yell at them to stop, to quit fighting, but i know it won’t do anything, that i’m the cause

so i crawl across the broken glass under the table and rock back and forth clutching bleeding knees

this is just a dream and i want it to end, i repeat the mantra over and over again

at last i fade into black, but not before the old wounds reopen and the tears stream freely