I woke with a start

I woke with a start.
Was that a bump?
It was pitch dark.
Who is that there?
Had to check up.
Put my robe on.
Quiet down the stair.
Open the back door.
Hair stands on end.
Am grabbed from behind.
What is going on?
Whisked off my feet.
Can't even call out.
Put into a boat.
And Charon he says:
"Coin in my hand."
Then opens my mouth.
I panic and squirm.
A tooth he extracts.
My gold capped one.
He examines it well.
And loosens his grip.
I'm over the side.
In the River Styx.
The river of death.
Swim to the shore.
Run back home fast.
In through the door.
Climb up the stairs.
Get into my bed.
Am asleep in a sec.
Dead to the world!
Wake soaked in sweat.
That wasn't a dream.
I have cheated death.
Just for a bit!


(Image by Cecil Keating found on cover of Penguin Classics book  "Satirical Sketches" by Lucian. 1961)


This poem written almost exactly ten years ago to the day was one of the first poems I ever posted. The coin in the mouth (or my gold tooth) was the tradition to pay the mythical ferryman for the journey across the River Styx to Hades in ancient Greek tradition.