Another Dream Poem by Ben Partenay

Imagine that, little house on the
hill with black shutters, white picket
fence and green lawn. A tree in the front
yard grows thick over windows. Imagine
that, but it's not a tree it's a shadow and the
lawn is actually brown, shutters are missing
and the picket fence is just a few words tied
together with adhesive hope. This isn't a
dream, I saw it as I chose to see it, felt it
as I chose to feel it.

Now for the rest of my dreams, dissected
pulled apart and left to wither in the sun, I
piece the puzzle of my life together in words.
For example:
When you tell me, I am always in the habit
of leaving, I am thinking of how to leave.
When you yell, my heart pounds and I imagine
blood flow, picture blood flow. A frame hangs
around a image of a heart. The frame is a
wall I put up to make it all seem nice. "I'm
fine I say." Inside is a question that hangs
like a dead leaf. I wait for it to fall, I want
to catch it. It never falls, but I fall. Over and
over I fall.

Now, now, I know I offer no answers
that's the riddle after all. There are
no answers. One day here, one day gone. That's
the risk, that's a dream, that's a life.
I say hello with a wave, I say goodbye with
a wave.
I flip coins for friendship.

Another dream, I'm laying on the lawn, the
brown lawn, looking up at a cloud shaped
like an eye. I am small and cold and the
little house is long gone. Somewhere
a leaf slips from a tree. I hear you say
"The way this goes is I go"
I frame this moment for later. I pinch
myself, squint hard. Feel the sharp
grass on the back of my neck, where-
ever you go, my dreams they follow.
I try and wake up.