In the Zone of Twilight Terror

jolted out of
a fluid fuzzy
fragmented
dreamscape
into the sharp
dark ruminating
ruins of reality

(it is very late in the evening
very early in the morning)

a paralyzed brain
pleads for mercy in
  a moribund purgatory
anticipating
  another shock
  another loss
  another step closer to
     the endgame

cars furtively growl out of
a deceptively quiet complex
in the gloaming

a gurgling gut
gags on pulsating
  waves of dread
awaiting
  another arrow of entropy
  another firestorm
  another bolt
     out of the baleful bog

a chorus of singing birds sweetly
taunts the crumpled man
clinging to a rumpled bed

(it is very early in the morning
very late in the evening)

there are no
answers
only pleas
in the zone
of
twilight
terror

--NJV (2023)