Walking down the road, I saw a man dying
Looking in the mirror, I saw him crying
Waking from darkest dreams
The man is me, it seems
Settling for less each day, heaving and sighing
Sitting by the roadside, I watch them pass by
Wishing I was living, on my way to die
Waking from darkest dreams
The end is near, it seems
Perhaps a prize awaits the rest, not for I
Thinking about the past, I muse. What went wrong?
Confused in the present, hum a nonsense song
Waking from darkest dreams
I’m stifling horrid screams
Lies flutter nearby, telling me life is long
Breathing smoke of hope, I look up to see
That hope, it is still a mystery to me
Waking from darkest dreams
Coming ‘part at the seams
Waiting for the man that I am meant to be
Nightmare fades into early morning stillness
Doctors make no sense of my mental illness
Waking from darkest dreams
My eyes blind to sunbeams
My ears deaf to my heart’s cries’ bleating shrillness
Sleeping longer now, avoiding time to wake
Feeling my eyelids quiver, my body ache
Enjoying darkest dreams
Better than life, it seems
No more to sit up, to sweat, shiver and shake
Coincidentally, this poem has the same opening line as 1993's A Man Dying.