I think there's something stirring in my house
up in the attic and behind the walls
at night when I lie fitful in my bed;
For every now and then a shadow crawls
on spider legs across my sleeping head,
and through dark crevices invades my dreams.
My mental vision flashes blue and red,
water and fire entwined in warring streams,
and steam enshrouds the creature's face and form;
So that I only hear it: clicks and screams
that shake me like a willow in a storm.
I wake up sweating, cold, my temples sore--
And in the darkness, something like a mouse
skitters and disappears across the floor.
1 comment:
Playing with form again. This time instead of opening it up, as discussed here, I've gone the other way and wrapped it a bit tighter. Here I've broken the 14 lines up into four triplets and a couplet, and have used what I visualize as a spiral rhyme scheme:
ABC BCD CDE DEF AF
So that each rhyme occurs at least twice, and two of them 3 times.
It's quite a bit more difficult formally than the dual-septet form, and not one I think I'd use a lot unless inspired. Still, though, this is a place to experiment, so there it lies. Now I'll try to take a nap, catch up on my sleep. :)
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