Author Information
"Dream Before the Slumber"
by Jeph Johnson
(the final poem of 2001)
she said
I should jot down
everything
recalled from my dream
before the slumber
when I woke up
the morning before
new year's eve
the year we met
in my chair
soaken wet
with tears
"everything?"
groggy and grabbing
the easy-flow pen
she'd presented me
for such endeavors
I wrote
while I rode
in my mind
her roller coaster curves
and loops of elation,
and summits of despair,
and plummets of masturbation
and her long long strands of hair
I wanted to stay dreaming
but wanted to slow down,
watching with awe
above this cold and rainy town.
the blinds were thrown wide
open in my dream
to more urban noise
chugging back and forth
at night
to the heart of the city
via these capillaries
but not this eve
of the year we met
she even smells happy
and smiles like a violet
while her eyes explode
into a dark forbidden place
illuminating heaven
with a spotlight
it's almost again
the rush hour
please, more visual stimulation
more garbage pails
at rush hour
where blasting eyes are blinded
in the commute
by sunlight through the clouds
where accidents
on the westside
over breakfast
and on the eastside
during dinner
continue even now
I find I've flown completely
off the track
and looking back
I see from beyond the clouds
the voodoo doll map
on my wall
where we kept sticking
pins and buttons in
there's supposed to be
some silver lining
but this sun keeps projecting
a cursed golden shiny
matinee idol hue
not preferred around
your neck as a noose
or perfumed around
my neck like a bruise
strangling contentment
shackled to my wrists
hindered happiness
between the face of fulfillment,
gratification grinds to a halt,
sanctioning satisfaction and serenity
while taking bliss to the brink
it's my fault my dream continues
after the slumber
while my easy-flow pen
runs out of ink
before the clock strikes midnight
it remains groggy and unclear
I still have more to write
but it will be written next year
