Once upon a nightmare not in sleep,
The light so dark, the flat so steep;
I sat up in my bed,
And opened my eyes with dread,
Someone moved at a creep.

I held in my shriek, I held in my scream,
Was this some sort of scheme?
The figure sharply froze,
And walked to near my toes,
As I wondered if this was all a dream.

It slowly looked up at me,
And oh, how I wished to flee!
Its eyes were red beads,
It came here to do the deeds,
I could feel its murderous glee.

I wanted to run, I wanted to kill,
I opened my eyes, and time stood still;
Its eyes were an inch from mine,
The look I could not define,
And finally I screamed, sharp and shrill.

My head hit the pillow, in fear and fright,
For this creature had come during the night,
What could it possibly want,
Just to come and haunt?
I embraced myself again for the sight.

I looked up, slowly, to see,
My black cat sitting on me;
It nuzzled my face,
As I filled with disgrace,
It was my cat- only he.

How could I have been so stupid and blind?
Seeing things, tricking my mind,
My eyes playing funny games,
And me, making claims,
Seeing real and fake things entwined.

Silly me, it was only my cat,
Round and furry, soft and fat;
He purrs on me, kind,
So gentle, so refined,
How could I ever be scared of that?

I arise and turn on the light,
Go to the bathroom and say good night,
To my wonderful cat,
Who had scared me like that,
And slowly closed my eyes in delight.

I awoke the next morning, sad and pale,
I stood up, quite weak and frail;
In the mirror I saw,
And I gaped in awe,
"I'm no longer tan!" I said, in a wail.

I recalled the events of last night,
And finally I realized in immense fright;
I did not have a cat,
So what was that?
Will it happen again tonight?

I have not slept since that day,
And that was seven days away;
I am so tired and weak,
I can't walk or speak,
I'm in the process of decay.

Goodbye world, I am leaving,
For that night was deceiving;
I can do this no more,
That night it came through my door,
Always haunts me- seeing is believing.