Upon The Strings Of A Childs' Nightmare (Graphic Content) Poem by Frank James Ryan Jr...fjr

Alternating images were found in its brains,
spilling out in glossed coat like Chinese ink,
the old man speaking in tongues from his bowels,
bending with a wince and an Aqualung pose,

while jingle-jangling puppets on a string,
laughing loud and hard, he raised one finger,
bringing hush to his young audience,
and, I, looking down, over myself, watching,
as the puppeteer told the shaken children:

''So goes upon the strings of your nightmare''.
And, I, reaching for a cup of cleverness,
tell the old man to pull his own string,
or a rabbit from his hat in lieu of traumatizing
children with bizarre tales of dread.

And with sand in my eyes I knew what to do;
wake up, Jo to go, light a votive at St Vito's
thank the Lord, last night was just a dream.


FjR-MMXVIII