Where Daydreams Go

The afternoon shines on
like the light in a dream.
Quarters in the fountain
dance gamely into
waiting hands.
Sorrows in the zoo bray
formlessly from corrals
and a high fence
draws an unreachable
bar for the kangaroo.
Where are the unicorns?
How to clean a prison cell
would provide just TMI.
A room full of tattooed cats
dines on Mexican flan.
Horses with razor cut manes
add to the heat.
The black water of Lourdes
flows like India ink
from the gold dib
of the captain’s pen.
Without the Dead Sea
life might not go on.
We children burned
signatures on cattle.
Miguelito branded himself
on the arm. They will say
he shared his sky
with Zeus and Thor
and set the ground afire.
We ride camels on the sands
where the light shines
as in a dream.
An oasis beckons
with sunbaked fronds.
έλα εδώ, Μιχαήλ, έλα εδώ.
Scorpions and spiders salute you.
Iron gates close at night
where the daydreams go.

waiting for the happy ending

we sat together, the three of us
in bed watching life
in a nutshell as life
in a nutshell slipped by,
interrupted now and then
by the screams of the woman
across the street being
beaten by her boyfriend.
some lovers just won’t quit.
I wanted to call the cops
but you both said don’t bother,
“you don’t want to be involved
with those people.” I thought
I already am and 911
could save a life, but
someone beat me to it,
the lights, the yells
the interrogation and
finally the cop cars driving
away, away somewhere
into the night, and we
returned from pushing back
the edge of the metal blinds,
from peering at the unfolding
real-life drama in which
they didn’t want to be
involved – it wasn’t me –
as the inflatable curtain
came down and we reclined
to our comfortable positions
side-by-side in bed,
safe, shaken, stirred,
waiting for the happy ending
which did not feel quite right.