Each night they creep
disrupt your sleep
Snatch you from bed
inside your head
Antagonize
behind your eyes
They aim to scare
and feast on fear
Fade out your light;
they wait in night
And look to find
those stuck behind
The purest heart
can't stop their start
And if you're found
Then you are bound
Puppet at rest
fear pounds the chest
Drums their parade
strums serenade
Dread sings a song
they sing along
Helpless in trance
on strings, you dance
Can't hide or run
toward the sun
When you embark
a night so dark
What it will bring-
remembering
Night won't delay
a mind replay
But the gravel
of your travel
Will not abide
a forward stride
A redirect
to cause effect
Narrows the path
of aftermath
The ones that lurk
were put to work
Minions to whom
assigned your room
Not to attack
but take you back
A place you know
you can't let go
Arrive at last
to hallways past
Behind each door
hell to explore
A time revived
for pain to thrive
Trapped in a room
of trauma’s bloom
Without release
or offered peace
Night terror looms
in varied rooms
And each one haunts
with ghostly taunts
And some, like me
have rooms of three
Traumatic post
stressed by the host
A swaying noose
of one’s abuse
Abandonment
a grief torment
Betrayed, undone
a hit and run
When nightmares store
from trauma's war
Brave soldiers break
from lives they take
The friend they lost
when limbs were cost
For lives they saved
their minds enslaved
Unfair demise
behind shut eyes
Relive the date
of your born hate
A risk gone wrong
times short or long
If pain you feel
your trauma's real
Although we wake
each day's at stake
Should one mirror
a night terror
We cannot know
each time we go
If one night fear
will keep us there
Still I will quest
for sleep with rest
Night trips could cease
I may find peace
Till then, my doom
each night, this room
Before closed eyes
again, she dies
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Author Notes
The purpose of this piece is to express the impact of "night terrors", a symptom of PTSD, and what one might endure if it develops.
PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a serious mental health condition that can develop in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event.
This could include things like combat, sexual assault, emotional abuse, the death of a loved one, or a close call! Situations such as natural disasters, or car accidents are also a potential cause.
In fact, there are countless situations. People with PTSD often experience symptoms that can range from mild to debilitating.
Just to name a few- flashbacks, heightened anxiety, avoidance of situations that remind them of the traumatic event, and of course, night terrors.
"She" is my little sister, whose death I witnessed; the subject of my own night terrors.
https://www.ptsd.va.gov
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