Madness Brewed At Night Poem by Birgitta Abimbola Heikka

Through the glass doors, I watch
the sun go down
I sit afraid to move, to lay
my tired legs on the soft waiting bed
How they hurt.

Through the glass doors, I watch
as darkness swallows the earth
By the minute, it grows thicker till
there is nothing at all to see.
I am still sitting, afraid to close my tired eyes lest
The dreadful pictures appear

But not for long can I keep them open
for they get overly weary and begin
to close; soon
Waves of bubbles fill my ears
exploding in my head
plunging me down a corridor
of swirling smoke.

A serpent from the fog appears
lunging at me; I retreat at its
ugly, small, sharp, yellow teeth
A man towering I see
in a forest of dancing bright lights
holding an ax hacking
off the heads of serpents

A crocodile emerges from the sea
crawling behind a girl with golden curls
From the clouds, trumpets an elephant
A sentry in iron sandals stands by a gate
he requests an exit fee
A quart of my blood!

Words swim in the clouds like fish in the sea
Ugly, dirty, cockroach
Flea, leech, maggot
Rain, pain, insane
Lament, rampant, repent
Weep, gnash, rash
Pill, will, swallow

Fast and faster, they swim
My head reeling from the pain
From the twirling smoke, I discern
a figure on a mountain peak
falling,
falling,
falling

It's daybreak
i'm still sitting afraid to move