Dream People

By Bruce Boston

If dream people were the world

we would inhabit a singular

consciousness that would

be pulled through one

inexplicable scenario

after another

like a goat upon a rope.

If dream people were the world

our lives and landscapes

would change beyond reason,

streets and buildings

in constant flux.

All those around us

would change in kind,

trading names and faces.

Directions to our shifting

destinations would be

tedious and ludicrous.

We would remain

lost between

event horizons: our

own altered histories

and future visions

that would never transpire.

If dream people were the world

there would be no time

for reflection.

We would never decipher

the language of our lives

despite the metaphoric clues

all around us.

We would never wake up

to realize

we were dreaming.


Bruce Boston is the author of 26 books of poetry, most recently The Nightmare Collection (Dark Regions, 2008). His poetry has received the Bram Stoker Award, the Rhysling Award, the Asimov's Readers' Award, and the Grandmaster Award of the SFPA. You can visit his web site at http://www.bruceboston.com.