The window has blown open times.

creaking floor boards
tripping my soft passage
from the bed to the windowseat
to secure the banging window
noticing the flutter of white
organza in the backyard
the upturned visage of
a faceless haunt catching my eye
and chilling my blood
eerie voices rising within my head
a crescendo of fear washing over me
making my heart fear
as the wraith glides across 
the dewy fog wrapped lawn
frozen in panic
drenched in a cold sweat
morbidly fascinated
the floor board creaks behind me
and i starting up in terror
a noiseless scream
bubbling up from within
like blood welling up in a font
collapsing in slow motion
striking my head
on the mahogany bedpost
the filmy white curtains
dancing slowly in the fetid breeze
like fingers reaching for me
my heart pounding
like the waves upon the beach
in night terrors
during a hurricane
flooding me, drowning me
suffocating me
a cool mist rushing over my legs
as i lay sprawled helpless
on the floor
luminescent and cruel
the cold fingers penetrating
the fabric of my dressing gown
foul odour of death
assailing my nostrils
the entity entering me
chilling my heart
taking possession of my being
lifting me up
contorting my face into a leering grin
i leaned out of the casement
watching the wraithlike ghost
approach me
call to me
somewhere deep inside me 
the terror reigned but mutely
the horror a part of me
a low gutteral invokation
arising from my lips
i - a spectator, unwilling
taken into a hell of another's making
reaching to her, supplicating
she turned her face
up to look at mine
glowing red eyes
in a yawing face
a black hold, of deepest despair
flames and snakes
cascading down her vacuous shoulders
her gown a fine lace shroud
dripping with the dew
of the tears of the dead
which well forth from the ground
a mournful wail accosting my ears
the anger of a damned soul
and a foghorn sounding in the distance
forewarning others of the
watery graves awaiting the unwary
i watched in morbid fascination
as she tried to speak
without a mouth
ears given to hearing
the utterances of a soul
in pain
i stood between planes
wind howling furiously
and felt tears coursing down my face
from my eyes
the candles dancing frantically
gyrating wickedly in the sconces
on the wall
one by one flickering out
she crept closer to the casement
the facade more and more clear
the restlessness of my possession
increasing
the fingers of the wind
caressing my auburn tresses wildly
in the gale
i drew my knife in the air
and closed the portal
the windows slammed shut
stillness reigned all about me
the first rose of sunset dawned
as i collapsed on the floor
and stillness descended
upon me
i awoke to the caress of sunbeams
on my face
my tales of Poe at my feet
the lingering stench of death's perfume
in my hair
i wandered the garden of death
today
and enscribed my name in the dirt
i will not submit to a quiet surrender
yet i fear the night

Sherry Gilles ©1999 January