Sometimes waking
from a dream
in which we lived
10,000 sadnesses.
Crusty eyes,
inconsolable, the sadness
from 10,000 dreams we’re forced
to visit in good health.

Bare feet the first
to touch a chill, wooden floor.
Body’s weight redistributes
while the head hangs low.
Head half in dream,
eyes struggle with tears
trying to escape
despair’s mounting pressure.

Darkness abides
outside; within:
invisible tears,
reflect no light.
Grip tightly the bathroom sink
to dampen the sobbing.
Don’t want to wake anyone
with this, with this.

Shy violence,
a stammering heave,
low and exhausting
reinforcement of tears.
The basin recalls deluges
from dream downpours of dawns past;
waters rise higher and higher
after such drenched awakenings.

Here falls a tear
like 10,000 others,
only this one so happens
to land on a tongue.
And the sun starts to rise!
And the light scares the fear!
And the tear is a dream