Wait

WAIT

         Or did I dream the whole thing?

                   -David Lehman

Was I really flying

                   to the sky that held no amount of wonder

         for those who are blind to the ground below?

                                                                                                                                    Is it true?

That there is a wondrous world beyond

         these fluffy condensation filled clouds, that no man has seen before?

There is

                                                                                                                                    it’s glorious

The light from the sun is perpetually warm just like

                                                                                                       a mother’s embrace

         when your hearts been broken by the one you though you loved and

                                                                 scars heal over;

The clouds are just as imagined as kids almost like cotton candy

         or like the Sherpa throw that laid over the couch at your pa-pa’s place.

                                                                                                                There are others here!

Not once do you feel the sting of loneliness that is perpetually taking over your life

         like the plague that carved a black ring and stained the lives of many.

This is almost too good to be real

                                                                                             I don’t want to leave,

Who is that? Who is calling so casually?

                                               Wait

                                                        is that my name?

                                                                           no one knows my name here…

The feeling of falling is one that no one enjoys that sinking feeling at the bottom of your stomach

         that makes it jump up into your throat choking you with frog lips and eyes

                                                                                                                        This wasn’t falling

                                                                                             This was pulling

                   this is… this wasn’t what I wanted!

What are you doing? Leave me alone the darkness is something to be avoided

         no one likes the dark

         it’s a thief stripping you of what little you have and leaving you buck naked on the

                            side of the road with no control over who sees you

                                               your limbs are heavy from the fall.

                                     New light.

         Bright but synthetic

                                                                                                                        no comfort at all

but blinding all the same

                   I would rather take blindness over this clammy feeling in my palms,

                                                                                                                        why is it wet?

Why are you thanking God? He has nothing to do with this horrible feeling

         why did you take me from that place?

They said I had been sleeping,

                                                                                                                                    almost dead

                                     they said.

I spoke of the warmth and happiness I was able to feel for the first time

         and the anger I was feeling at the loss of such a dream

                                                                                                                                    It wasn’t real

                                                        Or did I dream it

                                                            to make it real?