Dream #23 Poem by Kyle Schlicher

i attached myself
to the priest rising from the water
while sea gulls flew overhead,
all without caring or so they said.
and the red night closed
in on the silhouette standing against
the
deserted
shoreline
as it did not get its feet wet
and
never touching the sand, yet
hello,
i answered in return,
there's someone here
and
no one answered.

unbending silence tightened around the night
like the noose
around the neck of a common non believer.

i found it difficult to breathe,
i needed to leave.
felt a compulsion to grieve
to try and retrieve
this loss of innocence.
i was disconnected
totally misdirected
and alas,
the one selected
to stand alone against the images
forming in the minds of the unsuspecting
looking for the disconnecting stone
leading to another dream.

ok.
ok.
i am now in total control.
this is not real,
i cannot feel
the needles
they're pushing into my skin
as i begin
to bleed from the tiny pin pricks,
tiny bubbles of blood
i no longer need.

this is nothing new.
i have suffered before
and
i shall suffer again.
it is only justice
so the shadow on the shoreline
shouts in tempered protest
demanding i look back
deep into the past.

turning around,
i saw only a darkened voided room
and
i am so lonely
and
my feet are so cold.
i have nothing to hold
my burden of guilt in,
nothing to load upon the fleeing
stainless steel hearse
carrying my dead dreams
to bury them once and for all.

and no one goes into one two times
so i'm all right tonight,
i can read the signs:
no one admitted gets out
so no trespassing on sight
for now the water is rising
and i can't let go.

and then i watched the priest rising
from the water to drown
while the temperature was rising,
getting hotter
as i floated upside down.

it was just another bad dream.

12-24-1971