Dream

Late in the afternoon,
I dreamt I hadn't gone home.
You were there and so was she
and a few other faces whose voices
are fast fading into memory.

In the autumn of my dream,
when we all wandered aimlessly
through crunching, golden, fallen
leaves she rolled up her sleeves
and from nowhere, rough
networks of clotted blood and
nonchalant razor scabs covered
smooth pale hands that only
seconds ago, I was holding.

In the pain of my drea,
she writed and gnashed her teeth,
bringing notice to a scar on her lip
and mine to her tiny, cut fingers
hurt so much more -- both of us.

Late in my nightmare,
I ran back out into the
November air with tears running
down my face. Terrified, I found
myself racing to your arms.
I had a dream we hugged
and I felt so safe because
being close to you chased
all my fear away in the moment.

And then,
then I was disappointed
to be awake in spire of
the haunting residue, because
when I opened my eyes,
it was all still an ocean away.