"And you will make the dream catcher,
To set above his head?
And can you use these feathers
From the bird we sacrificed instead?"

Two days before, it began,
The horrible visions in his head-
Nightmares had left him paralyzed,
In his sleep, loitering, but dead.
At first he was alive
And as strong as strong could be.
Then a leap of faith
Turned into catastrophe.
A voice, a love, and then the shock.
The pebble broken off the rock.
A lifeless sleep in the face of day
Behind closed eyes in disarray.

And I could hear my heart beat,
The dream catcher may not be enough.
For it seems as though he's seen it all
His life a little rough.
I agreed in helping her;
And my head it wandered fast.
With dread in case this didn't work
The nightmares slipping past.

And when I came, she held his hand.
A woman a drift, yet here on land:
And, though no word was said at all
I knew she knew the plan.
Because her heart was set,
She did not sigh, or moan, or fret.
In fact she hardly wept,
Her love it took a stand.

I gathered the feathers,
Securing them tightly.
Weaving the string in and out,
Ever so lightly.
My hands were stiff
But I kept going.
Despite the fact
Of not really knowing,
If this was going to work.

Her eyes somewhat piercing,
For she hardly blinked.
It made me wonder,
It made me think:
Will I ever love
Like this woman does?
Tangled in another's soul
Just because.

At last I pulled the scissors out
Cutting just below the final knot.
Filled with hope now, not a single doubt,
Because I gave it all I got.

Handing her the perfect dream catcher,
She smiled and then she said,
"Would you mind doing me the honors
Of placing this above his head?"
I cried for her, she had no tears.
Of all my days and all my years,
I've never met a woman more humble
Despite the shift in gears.

I hung it up, just as she asked.
She took a silent, in drawn breath.
Can we save this man lost asleep,
Or will the nightmares be his death?