Dreams

I lie awake, sometimes at night
tracing patterns on the ceiling.
Drowsy mind starts taking flight,
clumsy movement—awkward, reeling.

As my sleepy head goes under,
body twitching carelessly,
mind induces worlds of wonder—
alternate reality.

Stilted dances of my mind turn
graceful, swans on feathered wing.
Hollow darkness rages; nocturne
melodies of color sing.

In this state of fertile stasis,
body locked in mime of death,
eyes are closed, life’s only trace is
even, deep and flaming breath.

Dreams I dream while deep in sleep are
echoes of my waking days:
To wake— to shuffle off this coil
of sleep, and let awareness blaze.