Dream Poem

As published in Little Patuxent Review

Once in a while I have a dream in which
I’m exactly where I am right now: a blue velvet chair
in a brick house with the soft morning light like 

Granny’s place, where a cherry tree blooms technicolor
& violets burst bright from blades of grass. In my dream
I swivel my blue velvet chair & I watch myself

spin fast in the tire swing that hangs from the cherry tree
outside Granny’s place. I spin myself silly til I can’t see
the heartache she wished for me to escape

& I’m whittled down so small I’ll never grow
out of her sturdy old house & I’ll never dream
of leaving to try and make it big in the city

In my dream I made it back from the city
in time to watch her die & I’m never forced to rely
on lost gold charms or cardinals passing-by

as signs from the lost that she heard my last 
goodbye. From her perch on the porch she watches me
play, keeping me safe from a safe distance away

& even when she dips inside to pour another sweet tea
it doesn’t cross my mind to think that one day she’ll be gone. 
In my dream I swear, she’s never gone for long