Sleep Tight, Year of Waking

Late at night, caressed by nocturnal howls I strode across streets of snow A gentle tune whistled from my pockets As the frosty breeze kissed my exposed nose Knee deep in my final stand I claimed old thrones that had forgotten me An old professor who gave me hope Taught me how to work a camera again 36 boneless wings and three Blue Moons Fell down my throat as we finished the day A noisy sports bar I'd only heard about Was my safest haven in a frosty Spring As legend upon legend passed me by I finally met a travelling group Inducted hastily and baptized by dragons All twenty years older, but my closest friends My hands held two victories; both long sought The diploma representing five years and endless tears And a credits sequence for an old game I couldn't tell which meant more to me So began my final Summer Vacation Unwittingly and undesired I searched for those who would take me And found naught but shuttered doors Summer's heat gave way to repetition Each day bled together Like endless drops of sweat mingling to form a greater one My days dripped rapidly I left humidity and oceans for mountains and dazzling vistas And returned to hope gushing forth violently And yet once more did the humidity sink me My days dripped rapidly The dreams began, vividly and painfully As each failure led me further into my mind A safer haven of harsher memories Of craving the Reaper's touch to make life interesting Blazing heat gave way to blistering cold For I have stolen Autumn's in-between Cold or hot; it's matters not When my desk is above a vent How much can I hate an anchor When it's all that keeps me from floating away? As the twin herobreakers that stalk the night We could never truly understand, so we don't And thus a year of dreams passes by With no fanfare, as there are no frames of reference My yearly review rings as hollow as its subject So sleep tight, and may you never awaken again.