Dreamscape
While asleep
I dream lately
Of lost things.
I’m wandering between school buses,
Looking for something that is not with me-
A child or a pair of splash pants?
I don’t know.
Perhaps both.
Another night,
I dream that I’ve definitely lost a child.
I should see them,
But I don’t.
I’m too ashamed to tell anyone that
I don’t know where this child is,
So I don’t say anything.
But it gets
Worse.
Beyond not telling anyone,
I breathe a prayer that the child is in the building somewhere and that
They are safe.
Then,
I do nothing, except
Carry on with
Other responsibilities.
While awake
Each evening
When the dark arrives
I light a lamp in my window
For all to see.
I think to myself,
“I am not afraid of the dark.”
But I am.
