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    Headstall
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The content presented here is for informational or educational purposes only. These are just the authors' personal opinions and knowledge.
Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are based on the authors' lives and experiences and may be changed to protect personal information. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Headstall's Reflections - 21. Chapter 21 Nightmare and Sadness

Nightmare...revisiting the fears of my childhood...
Sadness speaks for itself...

Headstall’s Reflections

 

 

Chapter 21 Nightmare

 

 

Darkness drips, oozing forward in creeping capture of the night

Whispers of slimy slithering foretell of something risen

Abominations cavort in this cyclic absence of light

While their craven king is no longer confined to his prison

 

A brush on my ankle turns feeble fortitude to a puddle

And roots me amidst this infested warren of unholy holes

Sinewy snakes reach out to trap me in a crushing cuddle

While out of the insidious ink crawl other-worldly moles

 

My frail life is forfeit as spectres of diseased demons converge

Blatant in haunted hunger for the untainted parts of me

Eager to consume my coveted purity as good and evil merge

Hissing delight at the taste of innocent prey with no feet left to flee

 

He watches, hovering as his minions gorge their feast

Taking his sustenance from my horror-filled screams of despair

My eyes, as yet uneaten, are compelled to stay on the vile beast

Soon, a torn ear is all that’s left to listen to the cackling return to his lair

 

I am no longer, but still I search blindly, futilely

For the comfort of my mommy

 

 

 

Sadness

 

 

Sadness pervades my existence

Messing with my life

It spills over me like rain from a leaky old gutter

I don’t know what’s in it

I just know how it feels as it drenches my soul

Cleansing rain falls inches away

But I can’t move from this broken spout

Thanks for reading.
Copyright © 2017 Headstall; All Rights Reserved.
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The content presented here is for informational or educational purposes only. These are just the authors' personal opinions and knowledge.
Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are based on the authors' lives and experiences and may be changed to protect personal information. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

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Sadness hit me right in my heart. Thanks so much, Gary, again you could find words, where I stagnate in muddled feelings.

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These are well cast though I ponder at the dark that they are steeped in. What brings back the terror of a child faced with the demons bits and bobs? From whence comes a spirit drenched in saddness? Breathe deep my friend the loving warmth and light of those about you ...

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Well, it's a good thing I'm a night owl, because this one would keep me awake. I always hated scary movies as a kid, and even as a teen I'd turn lights on as I went to bed. You know there's nothing there, but the primordial ooze of the subconscious is so close at night.
Wonderfully creepy, my dear friend.

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I thought the aggregation of alliteration in the first three stanzas of Nightmare produced a yet greater nightmare, as I'm sure was your intent.

 

The poor little (I hope) kid really needed his mommy!

 

In Sadness the metaphor of the broken drain pipe, and then the next metaphor of the cleansing rain, just out of reach, was brilliant, Gary!
What a perfect way to depict the miasma of melancholy! Oh wait! :o That's the other poem! :P

 

Anyway, it's true!

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Your Nightmare was scary and real. In fact, it was written so well, I shall have to search out something to comfort me tonight. By contrast, Sadness was so poignant, and the metaphors of drain pipes and rain so apt, that I feel a deep melancholy for you, and a wish to heal your hurt.

 

You have written these beautifully, my friend, but I hope you are writing of pain that no longer present. - P.

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On 07/28/2016 06:50 AM, J.HunterDunn said:

Sadness hit me right in my heart. Thanks so much, Gary, again you could find words, where I stagnate in muddled feelings.

Thank you, Peter. I think those words found me. From my heart to yours...

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On 07/28/2016 06:54 AM, dughlas said:

These are well cast though I ponder at the dark that they are steeped in. What brings back the terror of a child faced with the demons bits and bobs? From whence comes a spirit drenched in saddness? Breathe deep my friend the loving warmth and light of those about you ...

Thanks, dugh. We people are complicated and simple both... I am breathing deeply now...

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On 07/28/2016 06:58 AM, Mikiesboy said:

Too horrible and just too sad. I can't review these Gary ... cuz they break my heart.

Sorry, tim... thank you for reading... I understand... and I'm okay...

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Guest Arazon

Posted

Two great pieces: I found ‘Nightmare’ quite chilling with its descriptions. With ‘Sadness’, I thought it was effective how you differentiated the quality of rain between the broken gutter spout and the sky. It gave me a strong sense of murky, depressing downpour as it ‘drenches the soul’. Sad, but well written. Thanks for sharing Gary.

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On 07/28/2016 08:59 AM, ColumbusGuy said:

Well, it's a good thing I'm a night owl, because this one would keep me awake. I always hated scary movies as a kid, and even as a teen I'd turn lights on as I went to bed. You know there's nothing there, but the primordial ooze of the subconscious is so close at night.

Wonderfully creepy, my dear friend.

Thanks, CG. I appreciate that you felt the horror in "Nightmare"... thanks for reading, my friend...

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On 07/28/2016 09:08 AM, skinnydragon said:

I thought the aggregation of alliteration in the first three stanzas of Nightmare produced a yet greater nightmare, as I'm sure was your intent.

 

The poor little (I hope) kid really needed his mommy!

 

In Sadness the metaphor of the broken drain pipe, and then the next metaphor of the cleansing rain, just out of reach, was brilliant, Gary!

What a perfect way to depict the miasma of melancholy! Oh wait! :o That's the other poem! :P

 

Anyway, it's true!

Sometimes, the little boy couldn't find his mommy. I believe alliteration amps up the power of words, skinny, so yes, there was intent. Writing 'Sadness' helped to make the clouds clear and for me to distance it... Thank you for such a kind review... I appreciate you felt these, and liked them...

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On 07/28/2016 10:56 AM, Parker Owens said:

Your Nightmare was scary and real. In fact, it was written so well, I shall have to search out something to comfort me tonight. By contrast, Sadness was so poignant, and the metaphors of drain pipes and rain so apt, that I feel a deep melancholy for you, and a wish to heal your hurt.

 

You have written these beautifully, my friend, but I hope you are writing of pain that no longer present. - P.

Thank you, Parker. Childhood fears are very real, however we see them in our minds. I can see the symbols present in those now... but at the time their are confusing and terrifying. Many of us have a'craven king'....

Thank you for your concern... there is always pain... it's apart of life, so like with all parts, I deal and go on. Thank you for reading, and for liking my endeavors....

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On 07/29/2016 11:16 PM, Arazon said:

Two great pieces: I found ‘Nightmare’ quite chilling with its descriptions. With ‘Sadness’, I thought it was effective how you differentiated the quality of rain between the broken gutter spout and the sky. It gave me a strong sense of murky, depressing downpour as it ‘drenches the soul’. Sad, but well written. Thanks for sharing Gary.

Thanks, Arazon. I appreciate the kind words. I never know what's going to come out in my poetry, and how much I may bare myself... I'm glad you felt what you did with these. Yes, they are sad, but they were also cathartic for me in my ongoing attempt to become whole... thanks for reading and commenting, my friend...

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The nightmare poem reminded me of the nightmares i would sometimes have as a kid, and how I would run and leap onto my bed so the monsters underneath couldn't grab my ankles and drag me under. Its amazing what our brains will come up with while we dream. :/
Sadness made me want to give you a hug, since you're too far away, here is my cyberversion :hug:

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On 07/30/2016 03:20 AM, LitLover said:

The nightmare poem reminded me of the nightmares i would sometimes have as a kid, and how I would run and leap onto my bed so the monsters underneath couldn't grab my ankles and drag me under. Its amazing what our brains will come up with while we dream. :/

Sadness made me want to give you a hug, since you're too far away, here is my cyberversion :hug:

Monsters in nightmares are bad enough. It's so much worse when they are real. I used to have what my family called 'fits' where I would halicinate and be in a strange semi-conscious state... after we moved away from my dad. They sometimes lasted for whole days. Like with Kellar, my stupid doctor attributed these 'episodes' to growing pains. I know now what they were. Thank you for the hug, Lit. I think sadness comes and goes for many of us folks... Thanks for reading and your support...

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Funny, but I don't remember having nightmares as a kid. Then again, my rag doll protectors (one on either side of me in my bed) were fierce warriors despite being filled with stuffing.
Lucky me...

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On 09/23/2016 11:18 AM, Reader1810 said:

Funny, but I don't remember having nightmares as a kid. Then again, my rag doll protectors (one on either side of me in my bed) were fierce warriors despite being filled with stuffing.

Lucky me...

It's amazing what a stuffed animal or doll can do for a child. I never really had one, but all my kids did. This was about exorcising some demons for me... cheers... Gary...

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