i had a dream last night that you kissed me full on the mouth. we were in a room with pink wallpaper, a room where everybody gets what they want. i was someone other than myself, someone stronger, a girl with a gun in a briefcase. you, on the other hand, were exactly yourself. your beard was grown out just the way I like it. you touched the soft place behind my ear where i like to be kissed. i’m afraid to stop running, i spoke into your hand, a secret. you don’t have to stop, you said. you just have to change direction. there was water pouring through the cracks in the doorway, Titanic-style. there wasn’t much time. why did this take so long? i asked you, and the water was pooling at my ankles. the same reason the end of the world is taking so long, you said. *we’re all afraid to collapse ourselves and become something new.