Raspberry Rain

I wake at night: Freeze. Blood sluggish. Slow. Mist, gray pulled like a veil across the eyes Spiderwebs tangle limbs. Bound. Can't breathe. Pain, bubble trapt. Rising from the gut. Choking. Sound is muffled, echoed screams reverberate. Pressure waves against the eardrums. Crack. They are gone. Blood of my body excised. Forever bleeding. Cold. Remember the reason: Duty, not a burden, but a weight Carried on the shoulders as Atlas might. Barbs pierce skin, Spear words slide through muscle and tissue, Analysis crush bone. Broken husks unmade with observations, Are remade stronger, devoid of insidious weakness, Dark skies at Night sing sweet hymns to strength everlasting. To a lack of weakness. To a shield against possibilities negative. Valor and love heavy, Like the Earth across my shoulders. What am I fighting for: Walls spring up Mushrooms popping through the forest floor Rooms filled with voices None speak the language I most wish to hear Faces move behind a veil of Vaseline Seen but distant, vague and blunted Mine but not familial Familiar in theory A key no longer fitting her lock Where has the tumor grown In me or them? Close my eyes, Whispers of the dead sing me lullabies All I want to do is sing along. XoxO Hey baby Shake baby Your pollen is a callin' All the bees for miles aroun' They see how you glisten Petals flexin' in the sun They catch wind o' your scent And your way they fly But if you'd only see me Baby, I'd be your humble bumble The sweetest little bee Sting.