Dream-sparks

Oddly enough, I wrote this based on a dream I actually had... when I woke up, I remembered almost every detail and feeling just as I'd seen it. Perhaps I embellished it a bit while writing, so now the memory of my dream is mixed with daydreams and rumination. Regardless, the intention was to capture that bit of consciousness between waking and sleeping, feeling like you are somewhere, doing something, but at the same moment, knowing it is all a world away, and you will only ever experience it again through recollection...

an empty basement room

pool table and wooden shelves

lined with pages

that'd turn to dust

the second i touched them

the shadows of people

who'd once been here

flicker on the wall

who'd once danced

   once loved

   once laughed

leave behind only empty air

reminiscent of echoes in the hall

old-fashioned sweater, polished boots

-- you, emerge from the corner of the room

set the record, hand on my waist

we sway,

but you won't show me your face

if you hold me, my love,

as long as you hold me,

you won't let go.

if you need me,

you'll never disintegrate

into shadows ...

... of someone

who once was here

a flicker on my mind

who once danced

once loved

once laughed

with me at your side

like a beautiful dream

envisioned one night, never to return,

you were too good.

like the vintage books --

i touched you so gently --

and you turned swiftly to dust.

your head on my shoulder

a melancholy dance

before you slip away.

the sadness of a last embrace

hold me, hold me, my love

then, into my dreams, disintegrate.

written 30 november 2020