Dicing with Death

“Death, life’s old nemesis, comes unbidden.”
                                            
It was a soft knock barely discernible
                                        in the dead of night
I was in the vice-grip of sleep…
slumbering in my sanctuary   
                          serenely       snugly
who’s there?        I wonder …
 

from my subconscious realm
                          a cry bubbles up,,,
                who comes knocking at the door
in this god-forsaken hour of night
                              my mind dozes off again
 

knock    knock    knock
now persistent
                     now more forceful
now with a purpose behind each knock
a little louder                    a little more annoying
I plodded from bedroom down to the front door
stumbling through
                  a maze of hazy dreams
                                walking on shifting clouds
unwilling             pushed from the back
toward the door     and
                                  I wonder …
 

I took a peek through the peep-hole
no one was there           none was seen
                                                just empty space

I stepped back         turned around
started walking back            when …
                                         another knock!

now annoyed                     at my wit’s end
I flung open the door
                            and….
came face to face with death!