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Nothing Reaches Back
by: Anonymous

There is a stranger in my bed.
Every night, every day she tosses.
          Twisting. A restless discord
fills her dream encrusted breathing.
Deeply she gasps as her breathing deepens,
          Inhaling everything,
          exhaling nothing.
She cries, I know. I feel her pools of tears
collecting - her lashes drowned.
          She is drowning
in her silent screams. I hear the frantic
whimpers. Driping. I hear the bleeding.
          Too many holes:
          It is murdering her
in her sleep. Limp arms reach. A power
beyond her physical will holds them out-surrendering.
          Nothing reaches back.

©2001 Anonymous. Reprinted with Permission.

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