Empire State of Mind

cold, dark and silent,
this is what lies in the stairwell,
webs dangling in the hallways,
and scorpion infested corridors.
dust blows with every step
as roaches scamper into desks.

we are in the heart
of the house of horrors,
bats hang from the ceiling
and the walls are painted with blood,
we walk over skulls
and trip over tombstones.

“the name of the Devil”
reads the last door in the hallway.
I slide it open slowly
and the room lights up red,
snakes coil on the statues
and right at the centre: lies my dream.

before I stretch out my arm,
a tremor rocks the house,
dust and bugs fall from above,
the snakes hiss frantically,
cold sweat tears my skin.

fear has gripped my spine,
my eyes have turned bloodshot
and goose bumps have covered my body,
as I turn to run,
I fall of my bed,
It was just a dream.
™©Mwangi Njoroge