Rude Awakening

Folder:

Personal (Hope)

The rooster crows three times.

And I awake to the realization
that my dreams are still
not my reality.

I’m living a self-created nightmare;
the monster is me.

I’m racked by
these tired thoughts
that always haunt my sleep.

Every morning,
it’s the same routine.

I have trouble opening my eyes
to the truth of what I’ve done
(because I’ve done it before).

The sun glares at me because
it knows where I’ve been
(because I’ve been there before).

Or is it just my imagination?

Then suddenly,
everything comes into focus.

I was afraid to face another bleak day…

until I grasped the fact that
the skies are different today,
brighter than usual.

Nothing has changed…
except me.

I’m finally coming to terms
that what I see are
just man-made hallucinations.

Yesterday’s storms are in the past.

The thunderous roar of my conscience
has silenced to a whisper.

I can barely hear it say…
“Get up. It’s a new day.
You survived the night.
Now stop living in darkness.”

And somehow I pull off the covers
and drag myself out of bed.

I walk into the blinding light
of a future where
I no longer hide in the shadows…

Instead, I cast them out.

Rewrite 2012