Dream of Fire (Minstrel Mondays)

It has been hot lately, and I've been going through some personal difficulties (life is never easy).  Here's a little piece I wrote about a nightmare I had ten years ago.  It ought to spark an emotion or two.

Still in darkness,

I lie at ease,

peacefully sleeping.

The embers unseen,

hidden beneath daylight's rays,

glow forth through night's curtain

of shadowed refrain.

In the late night where men are afraid to tread

is where I lurk at the back of my head

seeing those glowing embers grow still

to burst forth into flames of pain.

A puff of smoke,

a flash of flame,

and fires are reborn.

The flames reach up

to caress the wood above me,

the great frame of my sturdy home

consumed by the flames,

eternally maimed.

Another flash from the embers below,

my blazing home is dealt a deadly blow.

The torch of pain spreads forth a deadly flame

and all is forgotten by the slain.

A gasp for air

from my tired lungs

brings in none but saturating smoke.

My eyes water from the heat

and my throat burns deep.

Stumbling to the floor, I find my home

creaking and groaning from within,

its bracing gone to my chagrin.

As all that was mine comes crashing down

the deadly collapse striking at my brow...

Then I awaken in lingering darkness

but the light of dawn soon destroys

an imagined mess.

A blink of an eye,

a whiff of the air,

and all my fear is forgotten,

yet lingers still for tomorrow's dreams.