Night Dreaming

My little one screams

The same terror I have heard

From her

Night after night

Since she was two

"Stay away!"

"But that is mine!"

Or simply the blood-chilling

Screeching fright of being chased by a lion

Or a dark, brooding unseen thing

With a growl

I, too, have had my dreams

But when I was young

They were dreams of flight

Of escape from the ground

A gentle lifting off from rooftops

A soft, not-too-sad goodbye before I floated away

To a kinder place

On my own

Listening to my daughter

When I reach for her

And whisper words to end the dream

I wonder why

Her dreams are not like mine

Why she can't fly,

But why she runs instead from unseen fears

Have I made her life that fearful

When I'd hoped to make her happy?

Not like me when I was young,

Afraid of everything around me

When my dreams were ended, my eyes opened.

Perhaps I had no need

For more fear

Perhaps my dreams allowed me to escape

The fears I knew too well.

Perhaps my daughter

To be human

Must fear something

Even something she cannot see, or name,

But she does not wish

To escape her life, her fearsome life,

As I once did.