DREAMSCAPES

1

In the black nights of dream

the whitewashed buildings

of exotic cities reflect

the moonlight like bones

in a graveyard. Deep shadows

dance in ponderous steps

across a desolate urban

landscape where I have

spent so many nights

wandering, searching, striving

to find an unknown beauty

woven of death and life.

Labyrinthine streets

guide my steps, but where?

The search for camaraderie

often seems futile as

doors slam and a single

long black shadow

follows in my wake.

Yet I hear the music

of the dead plucked on

vibrant strings, and it

resonates with an energy

that sings to me of

new life.

2

The twisting iron bones

of dead commerce

and industry

meander across a landscape

of ruin. Skyscrapers have

collapsed into piles

of twisted concrete, glass

and steel. Dangerous playgrounds

for a few daring madmen.

Scattered among the ruins

are rough encampments,

shantytowns living off

the death of the cities,

where daily life goes on

in spite of whatever

vast disasters

brought these cities

to the ground.

3

I find myself

in an ethereal forest

where trees dance

imperceptibly around me

and trail slide and slither

here and there like

iridescent snakes.

Nothing here is stable

or established.

There is no solid ground.

Chasms open suddenly

before me

and I fall

but never land.

I encounter

monstrous animals,

bears that tower

as high as trees,

a great coyote demon

howling at the moon

and lunging for my throat.

I devour this demonic beast

and in this conquer

the undulations

of this seething landscape

and make its delirium

my own.