May 2014
I had a dream about you.
I was at a party and I hate parties.
There were people so many people
All dancing and drinking flat cheap beer
From flimsy, disposable paper cups.
The boys were jackals hungry for the
Women with their painted clown smiles
And thickly lined black pearl eyes.
The room and the people were spinning.
Everything shifted and you and I
Were outside in the grass the house
Behind us standing sentinel
The air feels cool in my lungs and each
Blade of grass was a sweet nothing.
We lay there in the backyard without talking
For an eternity. Your hand on the ground to
My left was close enough to hold, but I didn’t.
We just looked up at the sky, the clouds hid
Our stars, but I’m sure that they were crossed.
We rolled over and fell down
A steep hill like
Children do, faster
and faster until all that
existed was green and
I had no thoughts for once.
I slowed to a stop, opened my eyes, and
There were carnival lights everywhere.
Sights and smells like I’d never know and
I wanted to experience all of it, but I
Looked to my left and you were gone.
The lights meant nothing without you.
Sometimes I wake up and forget
Where I am. I have to remind myself
That I am here and you are there and
That all of the romantic scenarios in
My dreams are not real because in spite of my
Tendency to let my unconscious mind wander
To a place where we could be together. And
In spite of the fact that I could never remember
My dreams before I met you, this is not a love poem
Because you don’t know me and I don’t know you
And I don’t know how to get to know you
From three hundred miles away.
You kept up a barrier between us, always
Kept an empty chair between us, now I know why.
I wish you would have told me you were leaving
Still I hope that we can meet somewhere in
Between here and there before I forget the
Kindness in your eyes and before you forget
That you once found me beautiful.
Yes this is not a love poem, but this is a thank you note
For if we can't clear the clouds from our stars
I'm still grateful for having met you
Because when I remember the peace I felt
When I was near you, when
We spoke without words
I dream.
I was at a party and I hate parties.
There were people so many people
All dancing and drinking flat cheap beer
From flimsy, disposable paper cups.
The boys were jackals hungry for the
Women with their painted clown smiles
And thickly lined black pearl eyes.
The room and the people were spinning.
Everything shifted and you and I
Were outside in the grass the house
Behind us standing sentinel
The air feels cool in my lungs and each
Blade of grass was a sweet nothing.
We lay there in the backyard without talking
For an eternity. Your hand on the ground to
My left was close enough to hold, but I didn’t.
We just looked up at the sky, the clouds hid
Our stars, but I’m sure that they were crossed.
We rolled over and fell down
A steep hill like
Children do, faster
and faster until all that
existed was green and
I had no thoughts for once.
I slowed to a stop, opened my eyes, and
There were carnival lights everywhere.
Sights and smells like I’d never know and
I wanted to experience all of it, but I
Looked to my left and you were gone.
The lights meant nothing without you.
Sometimes I wake up and forget
Where I am. I have to remind myself
That I am here and you are there and
That all of the romantic scenarios in
My dreams are not real because in spite of my
Tendency to let my unconscious mind wander
To a place where we could be together. And
In spite of the fact that I could never remember
My dreams before I met you, this is not a love poem
Because you don’t know me and I don’t know you
And I don’t know how to get to know you
From three hundred miles away.
You kept up a barrier between us, always
Kept an empty chair between us, now I know why.
I wish you would have told me you were leaving
Still I hope that we can meet somewhere in
Between here and there before I forget the
Kindness in your eyes and before you forget
That you once found me beautiful.
Yes this is not a love poem, but this is a thank you note
For if we can't clear the clouds from our stars
I'm still grateful for having met you
Because when I remember the peace I felt
When I was near you, when
We spoke without words
I dream.
