Dreams

Lightning dove,

apple blossom, cantaloupe,

shells, miniature caves

where we peek inside

and plunge down swirling slides,

salted pink caverns, echoes of a distant sea

which brings us to the beach 

searching for starfish, sand dollars, dreams

in a desert of chipped cups and vases left by snails,

sparkling glass, miles of sand

that we leave to the dark sea, the night,

the shadows who flock at dawn

tossing our dreams into heavy sacks,

crushing ones shaped like sad pebbles

beneath their boots, leaving

only scattered footprints

on an empty beach.

Deborah Strozier

“Dreams” was published in The Bitter Oleander’s 2005 Fall Volume 11, No. 2

and reprinted in The Raintown Review’s 2006 Volume 5, Issue 1