Lucid dreams arise after hazy
Safaris through tangled vines of
Neurons and synapses in the jungles
Of sleeping gray matter
Searching for the swift and innocent prey
Among the hungry carnivorous beasts

During REM
When nothing is black and white
transgressions provide
The playlist of ominous electronic dance music
Announcing the opening scenes
of today's daily rushes
missteps create nightmares in 3-D
fueled by a steady diet
of content creators spreading division
Endless hours of True Crime
And rerun marathons lusting over the brilliant minds
Of Reid and Alvarez
Until the jarring sound of a DJ’s old school scratch
Our breath grows short
we bolt upright then sink down
eyes in an airtight squint
as the scene changes
A dramatic rescue
Into the wishes we are to shy to visualize
Or speak after daybreak

Julia Masi