Dream Dive (with reading)

 
I dreamed
  of a deep black lake
The darkness was enticing -
escape from demands,
a reprieve from
   burning
      brightness

So I dove headlong
into the inky cold,
Luxuriated in
   velvet numbness
      and blind acceptance

Down I went
Expecting to find the bottom of me,
   to come out the other side
      whole
         healed

But there was no end to the dark.
No redemption down there.

Just grasping zombie hands
   pressing my bruises
      massaging my fears
         trying to hold me in my misery
            to soothe their own
At first I thought it was love,
and I let them caress me,
and it was delicious,
but there was no release.


Then, a single
   pure
      golden
         note
pierced through the smog
Catching my attention
with its reminder of joy

And
I
turned...

Flailing toward a distant surface
I tried to pull my zombie lovers to safety
But they couldn't wouldn't follow
and I cried
for the loss.

I awoke.
Blinking and gasping
Knowing the dark remains
   always deep within

I don't fear it;
   I will visit again

But I am a creature of light and fire
and no matter whose hands
try to bind me to darkness,
I can't make my dwelling there.

I am a creature of light
and fire.


.