Ghost Springs Dream Poem by Francis Poole

GHOST SPRINGS DREAM


Dropped off a boat into Ghost Springs
Like some Houdini impersonator
My hands and feet bound together
I began to sink fast and the deeper I went
The more certain I was that I would end up
In some strange and distant land
So I just relaxed and watched things float by;
My dead mother's tortoise shell sunglasses,
A portable radio, a rusty shotgun, a steering wheel
Made of ivory, a string of glass beads covered in algae,
Leather dog collar with tags attached,
So much stuff I began to get sleepy, in fact I think
I must have dozed off for a long time because
The next thing I knew I was trapped
Inside a net floating on the surface of a lake
The sun momentarily blinding me
Then I saw an old Chinese man in a skiff
Dragging me toward him but since
I was tied up he had to grab me by my arms
To pull me aboard where I fell out of the net
And flopped around like a giant carp until
He hit me on the head with an oar
And I woke up
My arms and legs wrapped tightly
In a knot of twisted sheets

--Francis Poole