j.lewis Verse-Virtual 2019 June

June 2019

Author’s note: I prefer pleasant dreams, but as they reject all attempts at being controlled, I get whatever comes. Sometimes I remember them, mostly I just remember a vague uneasiness on waking. However, I have been known to wish others pleasant dreams. The first two poems are responses to real experiences. The third was written for a friend and mentor who has sailed some rough seas, and deserves to have peaceful dreams.

hotel dreams

a weariness that time brings
to carpets, to walls
oozes into the mattress
permeates the pillow

once my eyes close
i am ready victim for
uneasy, unearthly dreams
left by every traveler
who shared this tattered room

drugs and ear plugs

sandman doesn't stop here any more
no wave of the hand to scatter
the dust of dreams across her mind
no soft whispers to seduce her eyes
to close and let go the day

he has been replaced by newer magicians
diphenhydramine, acetaminophen
molded bits of wax impregnated foam
black out curtains, or nearly so
heavier blankets and nightly routines
in search of r.e.m.

safehaven

wooden ship
you have crossed the world
rolled across troubled seas
with captains kind and cruel
your record etched
in metered masts
and sails of imaged words
woven through
your creaking groaning rigging
in stories of hope and fear

twice you survived
the devil's triangle
scarred but still afloat
the wind in your ropes
singing songs
of a quiet harbor
where dreams dock
and gentle breezes
rock vessels who no longer look
to wander

i wish you safehaven
refuge from the hurricane
umbrage from the freezing rain
and memories to come
sunlit days
star-filled nights
stormless skies
and home

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