Afterglow
Afterglow
by ainne frances dela cruz
Nightmares wake us into nightmares, glowing
Into skin, sewn so tight, our eyelids burst.
The ground is level with our feet quagmired
In quicksari soldering us to pockets
Of flesh, one pound for every cent I bought
Justifying the price for peace of mind
Time is cruel and love quick, what remains
Of us? As motionless we stand, all things
Sweeping us away. Phosphorescence ends
Grown dim and quiet as all beginnings
Brimming with light and yet dark at the same time. Nightmares can open up a can of freakish worms…though sometimes they can wake you to a better reality (knowing that it was all a nightmare, or scaring you into changing your ways, or causing you to make a better light of things..). This is not the case here, however, i believe…
The other side of that is a slippery slope that’s hard to recover from once you get a taste of such absolute ‘horrific’. The first two lines in poem really describe this well with dramatic images. Continuing lines also very fervent in expressing this feeling of helplessness..of parylyzation to act as if there is no free-will. That’s what nightmares are or else they would be lucid.
Towards end of poem i suspect with mention of love being ‘quick’ in the backdrop of ‘cruel’ time, that this might not be just a collective statement about bad dreams but rather the hardships of love and difficulties therein. The ‘our’ and ‘us’, therefore represents two lovers who might have expected their love to rise above such nightmares but have succumbed to some harsh realities. “As motionless we stand, all things/ Sweeping us away. Phosphorescence ends/ Grown dim and quiet as all beginnings”.
Honest expression! Thanks Ms. Dela Cruz!