Nightmare

Conflicting memories of childhood

Nightmare

                                                          Old Hull, Quebec. September 8, 2006.


The treacherous fumes of Memory
Swirl through my waking mind
Like the heady putrefaction
Of an Eden long behind.

Yet something in my spellbound soul
Stirs to life in dream,
And haunts me like the lingering
Echo of a scream.

I cannot keep from pondering
Which of these is true,
Though the past is dead and buried,
And soon I shall be, too.