nightmare

The beast extends its talons and its tongue
For me the bells have surely tolled and rung
The drool has pooled about my toes and dress
With it my blood is soon to coalesce

But though my body screams with primal fear
Its jaws have not a canine front to rear
Confusion breaks the hold on life and limb
Its mouth I pluck a tooth from on a whim

It steps back shrinking down in size aghast
Its face a man’s that shatters into glass
The nightmare’s end comes with a lucid calm
I wake in peace though something’s clutched in palm