Working today from the 30/30 prompt “cold sweat.” I frequently have nightmares, including last night! Even so, I love reading about the origins of the word and artistic depictions throughout history.

If it’s just a bad dream then why is it that

the worst ones
don’t leave the chest
even after you’re awake?
You might breathe fine 
throughout the day,
cold sweat dried, racing heart
slowed, 
but still it presses,
a burrowing worry
that drinks air
and reason
through its blackened roots.