Imagination

from a child's perspective

As sleep evades her far too active mind,

she hears the sudden chiming of the clock.

The witching hour has come to taunt and haunt

exposing doubts and fears which run amok.

Each shadow on the wall takes ghoulish form,

her thoughts race helter-skelter through her head.

She dives beneath the duvet terrified,

her awful screams enough to wake the dead.

An arm escapes to feel a bedside lamp,

her fingers fearful they may come to harm.

She finds the switch and flicks it with relief,

a flash of light and then a sense of calm.

And gone at once the demons of the night

back to the scary lands which feed her fright.

Reviews

[Neville]

it takes a once upon a time and a poet to pen something that most will be able to relate to .. and a connoisseur of written words to enjoy the hidden depths contained herein .. I am glad to have imbibed :)

[Sneh]

There was a bliss reading the above. I recalled last night incident which was equally terrible and waking up in the morning, I thanked god for being it just a nightmare.
-sneh

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Sneh for your response and also for your friend request which I have accepted.

read moreThank you Sneh for your response and also for your friend request which I have accepted.

Chris

[Moonie]

Sounds like a slightly-scary lullaby... i like how you wrote this from the little girl's point of view. Really enjoyed it!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much.

Chris

[Christy the Poetic Hear..]

Amazing!!! Our imagination can really trick us sometimes. The way you combine your words are makes me feel what she is feeling. Thanks for sharing this!!!!

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Lovely poet. Pleased you enjoyed this poem.

Chris

[Island Hippy]

Oh gosh I was afraid of the dark as a kid, I used to tell my younger sister to come hang out in my room just to not be alone. What an excellent read though Chris, richly descriptive and rhyme is so smooth. Many mahalo.

[Chris Shaw]

My thanks to you for your very generous review. Hope all is good with you and your little one.

Chris

[Island Hippy]

You’re welcome. He’s great just a mischief with very fast little legs. Keeps me fit :)

[Chris Shaw]

Adorable. Amazing just how fast those little legs can be don't you think?

[송지ፏ..]

Very nice. I don’t remember ever having nightmares as a child. I was too scared to know if I would live to see the next day with my stepfather’s violent anger and my mother’s cruelty.

I still suffer daily from nightmares of my past and I can almost see and fell and hear it.

[Chris Shaw]

Pleased you enjoyed my poem, but so sorry of course about your own circumstances when you were a child. I hope you will find a time when you don't suffer from the nightmares of your past.

Chris

[송지석 / Ji-Suk]

It’ll be hard. I have been taking this medicine but it’s addictive so I try to avoid it.

[Chris Shaw]

You have lots to look forward to, so I hope that will help to soothe some of the awful things you remember from the past.

[송지석 / Ji-Suk]

Thank you very much! Your word are very kind.

[Chris Shaw]

I mean what I say as well.

[bigfootprint]

A real grabber, not the entity but the drama here. You write very well -- and the king's English too. A sonnet, even. Well done. Love the rhyme. It is a shame for us who came without sidekick and have no one near to whisper "all is well." Thoroughly enjoyed this piece. Spellbinding: "She dives beneath the duvet terrified,/her awful screams enough to wake the dead. Lovely

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you so much, pleased you enjoyed the drama. My nightmares when I was little, were always drama, complete with high pitched screams. Pleased you enjoyed the read bigfootprint.

Chris

[bigfootprint]

Yes, of course, with me if I were ever short on nightmares, my older brother would launch Nightmares 2.0. I got PTSD from my childhood.

[Chris Shaw]

Sorry you had such an awful experience of childhood. I was fortunate, had a very happy one. but I know many aren't blessed with that. I count my lucky stars.

[Phill Oz O'fee]

Her secret stash of sweeties gave her a sugar rush … great interpretation of a child's nightmarish imagination - a humorous and delightful read … :-)

[Chris Shaw]

Good morning Phill and thank you for your response. Now those sweeties, you might have been on to something there! Pleased you enjoyed.

Chris

[Adam Latham]

What a corker of a poem. I loved it. From start to finish it's a wonderful read, great write.

[Chris Shaw]

Lovely to see you here Adam and thank you for your smashing review. It's the very first time I have been told that I have written a corker of a poem, so I am unlikely to forget that. Pleased you enjoyed.

Chris

[alanwgraham]

Good Christine. I'm not sure I can go back that far but I have vague recollections of things that went bump in the night. Now it's dreams that turn nasty, probably due to eating cheese at a late hour. You have a real talent for these poetic snapshots.
Regards,
Alan

[Chris Shaw]

Good morning Alan. Yes, I make a point of laying off the cheese before bedtime these days. I love cheese, but it doesn't always love me in return. Pleased you enjoyed the read and hope you are well.

Chris