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Poem: “If You Wake”

If You Wake

Phantasm, phantasma, phantom
Where have you been hiding?

Inside November rain
Curtain of the autumn
Cold and dense and straight
That will not cease

In the rain within the chest
Where the grey heart beats
I am the terror in the night
Behind the rain that sleeps

You were unaware
That waiting I am there
But once I am provoked
I may not be revoked

My post is here
In the corner of the eye
But I am not immortal
And if you wake I die

Pavel
July 23, 2011


Pavel Chichikov is a Washington DC-based poet and photographer. He has written for both the secular and the Catholic press on issues as diverse as Russian nuclear weapons systems, Olympic athletes, and miracles. His books include From Here to Babylon: Poems by Pavel Chichikov,  Lion Sun: Poems by Pavel Chichikov, Mysteries and Stations in the Manner of Ignatius, and Animal Kingdom. Pavel may be heard reading his works on catholicradiointernational.com and on pavelreads.com. His poetry regularly appears on "The Poetry of Pavel Chichikov."