Straightjacket Sleep Poem by Joyce Rugg

Bound by the shackles of sleep
As venom crawls through my veins
Drowning in the terrifying deep
Dragged down by night’s black chains

I sleep, but there’s no rest
Another fight, but now I’m helpless
I fail the most important test
All I see, frightening and senseless

Reality slides through my grasp
The monsters are closing in
Babbling voices a rusted rasp
Bloody claw marks show where they’ve been

My mind more twisted with each turn
It seems there’s no way out
Locked inside, I watch myself burn
To this chaos, a slave devout

Terror-trapped in a bloody rut
The wounds they cause
No simple paper cut
Not easily fixed with gauze

Darkness and horror: madness and strife
A nightmare painting, shadows and gory light
Running through hell to save my life
My only option, a cliff’s edge flight

Behind me, I can feel their breath
I know I’ll never leave alive
Either way lies certain death
One last breath: I take the dive