Sesheta's 21 Days of Poetry Challenge II

Midnight

Early to bed
I must get up early
Early to sleep
I must get my rest

Head on my pillow
Snug in my blankets
Drifting off slowly
To dream

Awakened near midnight
What could it be?
Something bumped, then crashed,
The racket awakened me

I sat up straight and listened
Waiting on my pulse to slow
And my breath to become even
Searched the darkness for disturbance

There - on my desk -
Something had come calling
Papers, pencils, pens and more
Were strewn about the room

My book! Not my book!
The pages everywhere
How will I ever be able
To get it back together?

Then I see the creature
Perched upon my work
Something sharp in hand
Bloodying my papers

I could not speak or shout or whisper
I watched as the horror worked
Ripping up my pages, even,
Like it did not even care

I swallowed the lump in my throat
My book now all in tatters
The apparition vanished in
A flash and a slight breeze

Finally I could move again
I switched the light on quickly
To find my manuscript strewn maddeningly
In no order on the floor

I gazed at the comments
The highlights and the scratchmarks
My manuscript was a disaster
My tears hit the crumpled pages

No sleep to be had tonight
The Midnight Editor - that Beast!
I will show it who's the boss
I must rewrite my piece


Prompt Subject: It Goes Bump in the Night (What is it?)
Word(s) to use: pencil(s)
Word(s) not to use: scream(ing,s), scare(d, y), heart, boogie(man), monster(s)
Other requirements/restrictions: at least 15 lines