Cartoon Fear Poem by Roger Hudson

A child's nightmare
Recurrent
Big green cartoon crocodile
Yellow eyes glaring
In purple landscape
Chasing

Me
Jaws snapping
Me
On my knees
Can't stand and run
Just crawl and
Crawl
On my knees
Crawl and
Try to go faster
As crocodile
Gets closer
Gets closer
Closer
Jaws snapping
Closer
Jaws snapping
Crawl faster
Jaws snapping
Closer
Crawl faster
Jaws snapping
Jaws snapping

That's all
On and on

Cartoon crocodile
But the fear is real
Intense
And real
So real
A child's simple nightmare

Recurring night-trauma
Of childhood
Forever tucked away
Just beyond memory
Lurking to surface at random
To grip
Grasp
Grind
The adult mind
In jaws
Of nameless
Reasonless
Sense-obliterating
Incapacitating
Fear