Poem: All Night I Dream Of Scorpions

ALL NIGHT I DREAM 

OF SCORPIONS 

The walls are full of insects.
I lie awake awaiting the sounds
that betray their presence,
& night is never-ending.
The streets fill with rats,
the splintering of their feet
ebbing like delicate rainfall
on window-panes damp with
the condensation of breath.
And I wake drowning
in my own saliva,
to see shadows shift
beyond the mirror…


Published in:
‘STONECHAT no.1’ (UK – November 1980)
‘VISIONS no.4’ (USA – December 1980)
‘IN DEFIANCE OF MEDICAL OPINION no.6/
VAMPIRE FROGS’ (UK – January 1982)
‘LAST HINTS no.1’ (UK – July 1982)
‘HORROR MAG no.13’ (USA – August 1982)
‘BARDONNI no.6’ (UK – December 1983)
‘SYDELINES no.3’ (UK – March 1983)
‘PHONETIC SYSTEMS no.5’ (UK – July 1986)
‘ELDRITCH TALES no.26’ (USA – May 1992)
‘THIRTEEN POETRY MAGAZINE Vol.XII no.3’
(USA – April 1994)