night terrors

 Does the rain still tap on the window-pane?
Clinging to the mesh of the screen,
does it howl your name when no one is there?

The steady pounding on the balcony door
beckons him to a steady stream distorting
a young-old face with red rimmed eyes,
hypnotized by tributaries racing deserted streets,
disappearing in oily fringes of biospheres where
unspeakable creatures escape into his sleep.
Shivering in the dark, he lies awake
seeking consolation from a scavenged bottle,
pleading for salvation from a higher power
that he doesn’t really believe in.
He endures his fears alone

no one comes
not even the neighbor who when they pass,
eyes never meet.