Fantasms

I woke up
Abruptly one night
And found myself shivering
A fine sweat lining my temples
My breath was labored and shaky
I traced the room slowly
Noting how the shadows seemed to permeate
From each possible interstice

After a moment
Something caught my eye
Or-
Someone
To this day I couldn't tell you which
It emerged from darkness
Seeming to be formed by it
Yet something in its tincture
Distinguished the figure
From the surrounding environment
And there, as my eyes adjusted
The figure of a man stood
Like a fantasm before me

Then, in lines
White-
Began to fall
Cutting through the shadowed skin
It fell down his head like blood
And down his cheeks like tears
Contouring perfectly to his face

The sight struck me as strange
The black of his face
Was made to appear almost like water
I opened my mouth to speak
Making eye contact by instinct
But my voice--
Was no where to be found
A look of complete commiseration
Inundated his face

The chill that woke me
Had been increasing gradually
I hadn't noticed
Due to these strange happenings
Now I was feeling them full fledged
Cold radiated through my body
Sending painful tremors through my bones
Inducing a fragile feeling
To what was supposed to hold strength

Do you remember being a kid?
How when you got scared-
You would close your eyes?
Like by some fluke-
That would make it all go away?

That's what I wanted to do

And the he demanded, as if reading my mind
"Don't close your eyes."
His voice powerful and piercing in the still silence
He said it once more, but I shook my head
He screamed it
Sounding infuriated
I winced
And in turn, closed my eyes
Just longer than a blink

In that instant
He was gone
The fading cold-
The only vestige of his existence