Nightmares

Nightmare are dreadful things They creep into subconscious minds And tear at sanity's fragile strings Turning our thoughts to things unkind I was a teacher of children small And loved the years I spent with them But soon after leaving I recall That nightmares started my mind to brim The sweet ones eyes began to glow Within my fevered brain so fraught Red demon light seemed to flow From every eye that I had taught Then even stranger thoughts assailed As each child grew in size It seemed to me their fingernails Upon my body sought a prize They gouged my eyes and ripped my skin I could not seem to escape Although I tried to stop the din Alas it was too late Another time a stranger dream Came to me late one night It was scarier than any dream had seemed It caused me sinister fright I was in my old frame school Twenty-five students joined me there But one small boy had broken a rule And slipped a gun in without a care We teachers never checked the hooks Where all the schoolbags were sorted They must be filled with pencils and books No weapons had ever been reported But in this dream, he took us all hostage Then brandished the gun about He placed in front of us a blockage So no one could get out With all my heart I entreated him To let one small child go It seemed that even the room went dim As he looked at us row by row At last he motioned with hands spread That I should walk one child Out the door and down the hall Outside where parents were reconciled So one by one I went with each Dear student held that day Until they all had safely reached And end to their dismay Then S.W.A.T. moved right in sync And whisked that bad boy away I never knew what to think Because suddenly I was awake I jumped up from my bed undone And ran frightened with a scream I grabbed a phone to cal 911 Before I realized it was only a dream Nightmares can be ever so real They'll make you do strange and eerie things Nightmares always come my dreams to steal I wish they would all take wings