THE ROBED FIGURE
By Soulstar2000

Through thick fog 
The moon was dim
A figure clad
In robes within

The wind was strong
But it was clear
A call from it
Beckoned me near

The hooded face
I could not see
Though I could tell
It wanted me

It spoke in tones
I've never heard
But I understood
Each single word…

My whole life swirled
In the foggy mist
Every moment and action
Was upon the list

And told from whence
I was but a small child:
Each tear, each lie
Each time I smiled

People of whom
I'd love or hate,
Each morsel of
The food I ate!

When ALL was said
Then I was tasked
To answer that
Of which was asked:

Was this a vision
Held in my dreams?
Or reality not quite
What it seems?

If I believed
It was not REAL,
Then could I feel
A blade of steel?

Folds of the robe
Then came apart,
I felt a wicked
Terror start…

A jagged knife
Flashed in my eyes,
A full moon glowed
I saw silver rise

I cried out "NO,
It was not real!"
It plunged my heart
That blade of steel

I saw the face
Beneath the hood
Smile slowly when
There was no blood!

The knife thrust deep
Into my skin
Quickly removed
And I knew then:

If I had answered
"Vision in my dreams,
Or reality not
Quite what it seems."

I would have bled.

The figure spoke:
"You would be dead."
					
Confused, I woke
Alive, instead 
Sweat-drenched sheets
Upon my bed…

A rustling noise,
I turned my head
As a figure in
The shadows fled.


  -Camille Cheek
23 December 1985