The Eye Of The Dream (Poetry)

She fell asleep quickly
the darkness consumed her
and swallowed her down
in a cloud thick with dread
where she lay curled and cold
hearing only the silence
and imagining this
was the land of the dead

Then suddenly — breathing —
a chill touched her shoulder
a smell sick and cloying
rolled in like a wave
to smother and wrap
her shuddering body
wound tight in a winding sheet
fit for the grave

Her blood turned so icy
she struggled for consciousness
willed herself able
to fight for her life
she clawed at her bindings
and prayed to the angels
then found she was holding
a small silver knife

She hacked through the fabric
until she was naked
and high in the darkness
above her there gleamed
a huge staring eye
with a star at its centre
a vision shared solely
by those who have dreamed

the whole universe lives
in the mind’s secret tunnels
clay feet on the ground
but grand thoughts roam the sky
where ideas come and go
thin as ghosts through the ether
existence as brief
as the blink of an eye

So she climbed to the edge
of that hole in the darkness
rose up on tiptoe
and aimed at the star
flew swift and as sure
as a home-seeking pigeon
back where spirits sent drifting
so listlessly are ...

She awoke in her bed
with the dawn chorus singing
the health in her glowing
thanks fresh on her tongue
earth’s colours around her
a comforting blanket
her dream a mere shadow
chased off by the sun