Bad dream
Water pouring from the attic
I go upstairs to find
The intruder is in.
Naked but nobody notices
The sick man breathing
So slowly with rattled breath
He cannot take his daily pills.
Rummage through drawers
For clothes that aren’t mine
Pink jeans that look better
On me than on her, yes, I did.
In the old house, in a
New house with more stairs
Than I can remember,
Than can be necessary.
The chase is on,
Car flanked with men on
Motorcycles, but I can’t see it,
I’m out-of-breath distracted.
Kisses and controlled images
Holographic on all four sides
Box us in, but he’s
In on it – who’s side are you on!
How did we get here down this
Long dirt drive to the woods
Where the driver pulls me in
An old adobe home?
He draws a new door on
A solid wall, there was no
Way through, but now there is,
So simple as hands together,
Open in the shape of the door
And it appears. Into the room
Full of artifacts from a
Future self non-existent,
This is a trap and I know.
He’s offered me the metal
Sculpture and Art and Stories
I have not created on my own.
Outside in the park on the long
Trail, the men are being taken
One by one, tricked by a
Siren’s song, they struggle,
And at last she plucks a purple
Flower from the water and
Presses it to the man’s lips,
The final kiss. Death grips.
Three boys on bicycles
Speed past, looking for police.
A happy couple share a glance,
He says, “It’s not blood
On my shirt, it’s only ketchup.”
She nods her head, agreeing.
She’s complicit or complacent?
What am I not seeing…
Running down the stairs,
All those stairs, oh my God,
To save my family, warn them,
The words caught, I sputter,
Wake up, out loud, “Call 911!”
