Dear Life

With my pillow as a flotation device,

I hang on each night for dear life

knowing I’m sure to lose the same

battle for wakefulness.

I always go under.

Submerged in the dream,

the first thing you should know

is: there are no rules

down here. Also,

children are played by adults

suffering secret addictions.

People you know 

may often be portrayed 

as their opposite.

For instance,

a kind acquaintance

becomes a bully,

an old enemy

turns 

unexpected accomplice.

Don’t be startled, but

here, sexuality is fluid.

A man is never just a man,

which should tell you:

the heart is transvestite. 

Here, 

resurrection is a way of life,

and we are often

after mother’s approval.

Tonight, she is played by

a woman in a bad wig.

Tomorrow in broad daylight

she may well be

a familiar face in the FE’s

frozen food section

stocking up on broccoli florets.

And forget about scale.

You won’t be able to tell

how important a thing is

because everything that happens

is pitched at the same frequency.

Existence is never NOT at stake.

Small feelings appear BIG

as in a car’s rear-view mirror;

far things seem near.

Try looking for something:

an object like a spoon…

something you can take back

with you.

We are all thieves here

in search of evidence 

that might prove 

any of this matters.

In the same way

I must find a way

to make this poem

matter for you.

Yes, you heard right.

We are all thieves 

even while nothing

in our dream 

can be stolen.

By the way, did you notice 

there are no devices here?

Characters use themselves

to communicate. 

All they want

is to make the most 

vivid impression;

for that

they insist on being

their own art forms.

Oh, and you can be sure of one thing.

Later you will want to drag

the night down into day

because it is impossible

not to want more possibilities

once you’ve lived

expressionistically.

And now you begin

breaking up again,

your hand turning to ash

as you touch the river.

In no other reality can you

so easily add yourself

to the world.

Peter Valentyne

August 11, 2019