A dream I once had comes to mind
Lids shut, I still saw threads of light
And upon opening, nothing but black
An alarm's shrill call, soles on the cold floor
There was school, college, work to be done
Knowledge to gain so money can be made
In exchange? Time erased
Groggy, I arrived, swiping sleep from my eyes
The first two hours are the hardest
The last two worse; grinding painfully
40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year
40, no 39, no 38... 38 years to go
That's if He doesn't come for me first
The Ferryman, for my soul, for His coin
Now I am home and sitting, somehow?
Somehow... A passenger in my own body
38, no 37, no 36... 36 more years of this
No matter, I say, as my head hits the pillow
Tomorrow will forever be another day
Always out of reach, by inches alone
A promise never to be kept
I wake, startled almost
But all is well, all is right
In my bed under a green crown
Light softly flickering between branch and leaf
Birds calling, moss crawling, grass yawning
A dream, thankfully; a dream and nothing more
A dream, of where we could've gone wrong
Wrong... Wrong? No! It's all wrong!
I open my lids and I'm back
The school, the job, the years, the alarm
Not a dream, no; the reality
Let me go back, please?
Let me live in the great wide green?
I want to go back!
...35 more to go
AJ Carney 