There is an upside to having suffered with nightmares

all my life, the terror that has had me screaming out

at four in the morning as the feeling of cramp

sets in and the heart jolts me awake in some antique form

of Hypnic Jerk and the pain is compounded

by the

sweat of salted tears that kiss my lips and

run down past my nose,

gliding as if on a mountain range,

a single skier running over every pore but

with no tricks up its sleeve.