It's May 1st, 11:30 p.m. I just finished posting my homework which was due before midnight tonight. This is going to be a real challenge since my life is so busy already. I promised myself that I would post a poem a month and have not written one this month. That means I have to dig into my old writings and find a poem. So, here it is:

Nightmare

I lift baby up hoping the crib
will imprison her nightmare
but it pours out her mouth
punching my eardrums
rattling her ribcage
like a trapped cat

I pace and pray
that the rocking and cooing
walking and soothing
will quell the crying
melt her stiffness and drain her despair

she languishes
between succumbing to slumber and being sentient
breath broken by suspended cries
eyelids falling and opening
over her stubborn eyes
like small waves washing in, washing away

I feel her reluctantly settle
when the weight of welcome sleep
restores her ribcage to a rhythmic breath
drops her head onto my wet shoulder
as she surrenders to my embrace

I delicately lay her back in her bed
grateful that the nightmare has fled
yet in its retreat
it left covers and toys
whipped into a still life
of frenzy