Apparition

Haunting shift between illusion and reality......

I looked outside the window and caught a shadow-
A slip of my imagination, a passing delusion.
I checked once more to ease my troubled mind,
And saw a man lying motionless, as if dying.

Am I losing touch, or imagining things?

Then, suddenly, the doorbell rang through the dark.
Or was it just a quiet ringing in my ears?
I glanced back outside to the freezing night-
The patch of grass was completely empty now.

Relief washed over me; it was all in my head.
I turned and went to open the front door,
When the blaring alarm shattered the stillness, waking me.
Thank God, it was only a lingering bad dream.

Yet, as I looked out the window one last time...
An apparition stood beneath the moonlight, staring back.