Amid Carousels And Mirrors Of Fear Poem by Joe Fraccalvieri

Through warehouse-like buildings
They chase me through a darkened corridor
I look for a place to hide
Outdistancing Them to an open door
where I find a room inside

They see me enter
but I don't let Them see me see Them see me
and shut the door secretively

On a wall in front of me is a window
through which darkness is all I find
In back of me-- the door--
with Them not far behind

I lift the window silently--
My movements are deliberately slow
because I'm afraid to face Them
and I don't want Them to know

Yet They wait just around the corner
standing in shadows I cannot bear
Nor can I face the fear within me
whenever They are near

Their saucer eyes watch me fiercely
and in the mirror They appear
ready to take away my soul--
and all that I hold dear

The pitch-black pinpoints of pain
act as a god which anoints what is sane
and I am home again-- away from Them--
hoping the memory of Them won't remain

But when I turned the corner
I made a sound no one could hear
because there they stood and waited--
on the front porch of my fear