Tag: Bit

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II

When the mist clears, I’m sitting on a rope ladder

My legs through the bottom hole

Hands gripping the edges like a swing

The ladder comes from n o t h i n g

Suspending me over a cool, gray lake

Water lilies are in BLOOM, & they cover the surface of the lake

What appears to be a surface of glass

With no shoreline in sight

Beneath the glass surface

Instead of the underside of the lake

I see a sprawling city of towering sky scrapers at night

The lights from their windows making pin pricks in the dark

. . .

Carefully, I reach my foot out

My toe touches the water, & I hesitate –

But then push my whole foot in

Past the line of water,

And into dry air

I pull my foot out

And watch the water drop off my toe

Sending shock waves across the lake

Making it, for the moment

Look more like the water it is instead of glass

And blurring the metropolis underneath me

Nervous now of losing my grip

And falling

down

I tighten my hands around the rope

Another choice,

for what is life without them

Though this one seems obvious

up,

I’ll go because would be deadly

down

Some might think there is a third choice

To simply stay put

But if there is one thing this place has taught me

It’s to never stay in one place too long

So I start to climb

Soon I see, that the higher I go,

the colder it gets

By the time I’m stories above the strange water

My breath comes out thick, like dragon smoke

The ladder is frosted over

My lips and nails are blue

It’s trying to dissuade me

But it won’t work

It should know better by now

That I don’t mind the cold

(I never should have thought t h a t.)

Smoke, appears, & I look up to see,

that it has decided to use Fire, instead of Ice

The right side of the ladder burns & breaks

The whole thing swings as I’m jilted to the left

It clear doesn’t want me to go up any further

I must decide whether to continue up

At my own peril

Or go back down

And fall

Then the left side of the ladder begins the burn

When it snaps, I’ll fall with the ladder

Whether I want to, or not

It’s making the decision for me

I don’t like it when it makes decisions for me

So before the ladder burns out

I let go

I

I wake up in my dream again

And I have to make a choice

The same two doors I always see, stand before me

The whole world is gray blue around me

Not a warm color to be seen

They are wooden doors

Rounded at the top to match the cement arches they stand in

The right one’s sign reads “reality”;

It hangs on a single nail

The left one’s sign reads “dreams”

It hangs perfectly this time

Which one should I go into tonight?

I always try to make the best decison

Though I am not always right

What am I wearing?

A thin, white dress

Barefoot

Hair let down

Not very practical

I look up from the squared off space I stand in

Past the cement wall & to the sky; there is no celling

White clouds in a gray sky

They are very simplistic & beautiful

But there is something . . .

o t h e r w o r l d l y

about them

I look back at the doors

Which one is the right one?

At the edge of my vision, on the corners of the walls

Gray, pencil drawn, leafy vines creep up

But d i s a p p e a r when I try to look right at them

They are only there in the corners of my eyes

The edge of my thoughts

The brink of my consciousness

Like a dream slipping out of focus

My attire,

the clouds,

the vines

Tonight is a night for dreams

For slipping away from reality

And into the pools of my soul

So carefully I walk towards the door on the left

Bare feet crossing the black & white checkers with care

Never stepping on the│cracks│between│the│tiles│

Till I stood before the wooden gateway

What does it have in store for me tonight?

I have to know

Reaching out with my left hand

I push the door open

It c r e a k s on ancient hinges

And as it does, the world around me fades

Enveloped in a gray mist

And I am gone