I woke screaming

I woke screaming
Pursued like prey
Unable to elude
The one behind me

I woke screaming
As hands clasped around my throat
Tightening
I heard myself croak
A peeper in the marsh
Nobody paid me mind

I woke screaming
My heart running a lonely race
Beads of sweat grown cold
In the center of my bare chest
My eyes shot open
In the thick of dark
My tongue sandy in my mouth
I reached for water and drank
Washing the tang of fear away
A taste I never acquired

As in my dreams
My cries are not heard
There are no arms but my own
In which to wrap my trembling form
No matter that mine are the only pair
I know won't hurt me
I draw knees my knees up
Close my eyes
Risk a return to the place
My voice fled
My body failed
My breath thinned