Shackled by Silence

Once upon a nightmare,

a woman struggled mutely

against the violent grasp

of a familiar demon:

transported to a younger place

as her husband lay beside her -

grimace and furrowed brow,

there was nothing he could do

but watch the struggle

between a tortured mind

and an invisible monster;

somehow she knew, a thought pushed

from the Demon’s dark mind to hers,

that she wouldn’t be allowed freedom

from this gripping incubus

until she found her sleepy voice;

she kept twisting and trying,

no sounds could escape,

no one could hear, would hear.

Finally, after many tries,

her voice responded -

with a dreamy scream of “Stop!” -

she sat up straight and fast

before she even finished the word.

Now what? She couldn’t go back to sleep.

Still, the unaffecteds in the next room

remained oblivious in sweet slumber.