Imagery Poem

 
 
I lie awake and pierce the void of this restless night.
My minds eye sees a torches path burning ghostly bright.
The flavored air of myrrh and jasmine thickened as I near.
Men gathered speaking foreign tongues to faintly over hear.
Guards flanked the entrance each with swords drawn within their hand.
Carpet tapestries of red and beige replace the desert sand.
Inside the shelter stood smoking hookahs around an open space.
On a silken cushion near the back is where I took my place.
Shackled slaves each bore the brand of their master’s mark.
Knelt beside their owners bowed or waited silent in the dark.
Brazen women served heavy trays baring fruit and roasted meat.
Clothed to delight and entice in ways that weren’t discrete.
Upon a throne sat the host a bearded hulking man.
His reputation understood by all the nomad clan.
Tribute lay before his feet maidens fanned him from each side.
He clapped his hands the music played an entrance opened wide.
Like uncorked wine came flowing dancers moving to the beat.
Alluring as they spun, each of them, on barren graceful feet.
Gold and silver charms and bells rang on silks and sun bronzed skin.
Daughters of flame and living fire ignite their souls within.
As I watched slender fingers caressed and fed me well.
Should sin be of such lustful pleasure then damned is how I’ll dwell.
My goblet brimmed and stayed as full from skins fat with wine.
While the water pipes hypnotic smoke wafted twisted, light and fine.
At fevered pitch the dancers fled back through the entrance door.
The music changed but few could notice from the frantic men’s up roar.
Temptress came and quelled them quiet while barely in the room.
Her presence reined a seductive glow amidst the shadows gloom.
Hers was not for rent or for sale though all would gladly pay.
I too gazed in private want desiring every turn and sway.
“Could the dream also dream?” A thought broke from my trance.
It’s importance lost as well as I watched her body dance.
The smile she gave the look she made I wondered what they meant.
Her tossed silk veil covered me to bless me with her scent.
The goddess cloth was drawn away so too the vision also done.
As my bed’s pulled sheets no longer blocked the rising morning sun.
Again she’ll lure away my restless nights as an exotic fantasy.
Where for that time she’s what I wish and who I’ll want to be.

 

Tempt not the dream whose life was spurned from dancing in your mind.
This stolen chance may have it’s due to this neglect in kind.
A fertile field is innocence where sin may plant a crop.
Imagination knows no bounds so long as wishes never stop.
When I was young I dared not sleep awake I staid through out the night.
A fatigued will lead me on till the dawn of morning’s early light.
What should have been like any day took on a different feel.
For lurking just beyond my focus hid a world that was surreal.
My senses felt the mortal shell that holds my soul within.
A glimpse I caught ‘twas enough to crawl beneath my skin.
Closer came the chasm boundaries of realities fraying ledge.
A blackened void of empty thought dwelled just beyond the edge.
I heard the echoes of my prayers that comfort me to sleep.
Strung like pearls of desperation to aimlessly repeat.
Should something catch me from behind I turn to see what’s there.
In time to witness an unfamiliar place revealed before my stare.
I found my self-standing in a fog that coursed through barren trees.
As a woman dressed all in white ran through the fallen leaves.
A monument to eternity stood among rows of carved headstones.
As she slowly moved to this home I felt a deep chill within my bones.
A ravens call broke this trance to look another way.
There stretched far out was a fabled city defying the close of day.
Cauldrons of scented burning oils brightened windows and rooftop.
On gentle winds music rose and fell its chorus never stopped.
Ripe fruit sweetened every breath mixed with the taste of baked fresh bread.
Savoring the breezes wine above I gazed at airships overhead.
Towards town I walked but every step moved me farther back.
The burning flames of the homes dimmed then turned to black.
Perched high inside a stone gazebo of white marble and ivy vines.
I saw a sea of souls marched below in unbroken endless lines.
I watched them go from light to nothing a fate I did not want.
To be among the demonic specters that in my nightmares haunt.
I screamed and screamed but a drone of laughter canceled out my voice.
A path to follow I fought the urge but my freedom had no choice.
As I walked I asked aloud, “This road, its end, where does it go?”
The answer whispered close to my ear, “Surely, you must know.”
Away I ran into the dark over unseen things I fell.
I broke free from the grab and hold of claws and things I could not tell.
Then a gentle hand held me still my eyes I opened wide.
The nightmare that was but a dream went back to where it hides.
As near as I remembered it I told of what I could.
Take to sleep but not from asleep this lesson understood.