At night I lay in bed and close my eyes tight,

But soon enough, my fears take flight,

Haunting memories of flames and smoke,

Leave me trembling, virtually broke.

It's hard to shake the feeling of dread,

When my mind replays the horror in my head,

The screams, the heat, the suffocating air,

How will I ever escape this nightmare?

I try to remind myself that it's in the past,

That the fire is gone and the danger has passed,

But every night it's the same old fight,

To overcome my PTSD with all my might.

So I'll take a deep breath and I'll try to go back to sleep,

But I'm worried that the nightmares will come back to torment me

Try my best to let go of these

Nightmares that haunt me so

© Ariella Adams