Behind Her Eyelids

A nightmare fluttered behind her eyelids. 

She was naked and her ankle was chained to an anchor.

The current raged against her. 

She swam and swam and swam

going nowhere.

The sea was cold;

the sky was dark;

the moonlight reflected off of her bare, blue skin. 

Frozen,

she was frozen;

and the weight of the anchor,

it was getting heavier;

the chain was getting bigger.

she had been swimming for years

through her own held back tears

everything she never said

everything she never did

the man she pushed away

the anxiety 

the fear

the stress

the shame

the stage

the debt

the weight

the weight of it all . . .

it pulled her towards the bottom of the sea.

almost out of strength 

moving in slow motion 

beyond exhaustion

beyond even hope

the sunlight broke through.

she woke.

   A beam of sunlight escaped her black-out curtains 

    and had found her eyes;

and she realized

     what had felt like years

was probably just

    seconds before the sunrise. 

She was free.

CH 6/24/26