as we talk
around in circles
words fall
******* silence

Do you recall your dreams?

unconscious dreams
nighttime dreams

plays acted out
behind
curtains
of closed eyes

plays for which
you are neither
playwright
nor
director,
only starving actor
trying to decipher
the script
mercurial,
mysterious

I've heard people say
they can
control
what they dream

how,
I wonder
Do they split
the mind
into
playwright
director
still one to "act"

teach me
I need to know

how,
I wonder
when I awake
in terrified
sweat,
the curtains wide open
wishing I could
forget

playwright’s
evil pen,
director’s
harsh words,
my botched lines
and
nakedness

Stop! Stop! I say
You've work to do
Stop! Now! I say,
It's nearly 2:00

Just one more poem
just one more rhyme
It's Saturday
I have time

You're not even dressed
your hair is unbrushed
stop digging, stop finding
you'll find yourself rushed

But her words are so airy
His thoughts are so keen
I must keep on reading
their souls are between

Just come back later
at the end of your day
you'll have earned it, my friend
what do you say?

I'm loath to be leaving
it's so hard you know
to put down my laptop
and let the poems go

They'll still be here later
I'm sure you'll make time
to read some free verse
to check out some rhyme

You win, but I warn you
if I do leave
when I come back to it later
no tricks up your sleeve,

no interruptions
no phone calls, no texts
no "sorry, 'net's down"
wait now, you're next

I want to come back and savor
all the gems that I find
just do me this favor
be ever so kind.

Okay, it's agreed
we'll meet here again
to take up where we left off
say quarter past ten?

*You drive a hard bargain
you're such a drag
but I'll stop now
so you won't have to nag!

Matchless beauty
O-shaped, our home
Traversing an endless “sea”                                                            ­          
Holding us tight yet leaving us free
Ever forgiving though we don’t deserve
Rotating gently, never a swerve

Ethereal blue when seen from afar
Arched splendor in space
Regaled by the stars
Taciturn, yet giving so much
How can we repay her sweet, loving touch?

Born within a generational divide,
But some people will argue otherwise;
An affliction for movies of childhood,
*Like feeling the nostalgia I never got to experience.

The Room of Dancing Shadows,
undulating across the wall,
like ****** Persian ballerinas,
making no sound at all.
Reaching, retreating, a mosaic form,
eternally shifting the dark shade.
Pictures of no light in a flux,
remain fragmented, cold, unmade.
Hypnotising, random shapes in black,
swim serenely, start to slide.
The Room of Dancing Shadows
holds its fear deep, deep inside.


© Pagan Paul (03/10/16)

Pain.
It's tempting.
Hidden in hearts
That hold onto memories.
Addiction.

Healing.
It's reluctant.
The mind fails
But it always continues.
Affliction.