Word Search

~

in the newly drawn dark, 

unruly gusts in a stiffening breeze

grumble and billow angrily 

through the canopy nearing full leaf, 

they growl like beach surf

only to cower away meekly 

as quickly as they came

yielding once more to 

the vacuum of the night quiet,

the sleep ‘ghasts’ play out

their macabre shadow

charades across the ceiling,

imaginary creatures with more

legs, horns and teeth 

than could ever be useful,

inventions that poker the

embers of my insomnia

into feeble flames,

 for a distraction I recount 

the high points of my day 

as if revising for a test

with one ear on the distance

where the next tsunami is

already making plans to

crash upon the quivering trees,

 I seek out clever words that 

never come to heel when bidden

before I realize, cold notebook 

flat against my nose

the danger has passed

none of it real or perhaps 

the jumbled glyphs and scribble

within may just be a clue

*

© Graham R Sherwood 06/23