The Stranger Thing

A strange thing came billowing
Down my dark hallway last night
With hands not quite feet
And stitching so tight
It crawled creepy slip
Down under my sheets
And grabbily gripped at my dreams
A strange thing had eyeballs
But never a blink. Ever one single
Held heartbeat cupped slowly
Beneath the tattered weave of shingle
Skin. Reaching out milkily
With hands not quite feet
A strange thing came billowing
Down into my dreams
Where it spoke stranger language
Then scurried away
Leaving only one single
Held heartbeat cupped softly
Inside my time-chilled chest
Questions fluttered in its passing
Pale seagulls in a rippled wake
I fled from dreams and lay unmoving
Thinking thoughts of twisted snakes
Of lakes whose deeps know deeper things
To wonder what future heartbeat holds
And if she'll come lullaby
Some sweet unexpected day
Or leave one heartbeat held
Till dreams themselves fade and blow away.