he had the inestimable fortune of
being able to manipulate his dreams
Lucid dreaming! people usually
pronounced before he finished his sentence
Perhaps hed say usually to humour them
But its only dreaming to me
For as long as I can remember Ive
dreamt like thisIm aware Im dreaming so whether the dream is good or bad nightmarish its only a dream I can manipulate it but Ive found I rather enjoyanticipate its unexpectedness
I like surprises
he was surprisedever so surprised
when he made love to Marilyn Monroe his
hands beside her shoulders thrusting holding himself up so he could look at her
beauty under him his sweat spattering her face and throat and breasts her hands clutching
at his arms shoulders hips he suddenlypaused Can we do this Marilyn youre dead Yes. It doesn’t matter. Does it bother
you? No
Then it doesn’t matter. they returned
to making lovegot themselves twisted up in some pretty fantastic postures their bodies pliable flexible like rubber
I dont like affixing an adjective
to describe dreaming he said Why label
it
his dreams came to him whether he
ritualised themset them into motion before going to sleep or let them fall onto
himstumble on them
he was never disappointed
it was an old Midwest neighbourhood
treelined green lawns shrubs street
names like Garden Prairie Greenwood Cumberland Elm at the southwest corner of Garden and Chester
if it rained very hard the sewer could never keep up with the water and the
corner floodedthe water hid the curb ran up into the grass of the easement overran
the sidewalk it flooded the streets
a standing summer rain was quickly warmed by the
sun the water turned green like tea from
the chlorophyll in the downed leaves either floating or submerged cars threw up sheets of water like water
thrown from the bow of speedboats and it was wonderful to lie in the curb rocked
by the tumult then cradled sensuously in
the soft wake thereafter
he could never resist it
he paused only long enough to
untie his shoes slip them off tie his shoelaces together and hang them in a
tree or slung in a tall bush then he was all in clothed an escaped convict a
scout a lifesaver a happy boy
sometimes the flooding stayed
into the next day
the water receded a bit yet was still
deep enough to submerge his bodyhold his head up shoulders up on his elbows he ignored the punishment the day earlier because
his clothes were sopped What Its only water he had to strip in the backyard and a brother
or a sister were made to fetch him a towel to dry then wrap himself in some kind of hang up on nudity We all have bodies
through the ensuing years he was
a happy teenager a happy young man he refused to break himself of the
deliciousness of his boyhoodrefused to kowtow to the contemptible cranks who didnt
dare say it out loudhed drag them into the flooded street but whose pinched
expressions said You ought to know
better
one day he may have been twentycertainly
no more that twentyone laying clothed on his back in the flooded curb an
easterly wind picked up and from out behind a neighbours house a big bright ball
of cranberry jazz yarn bound unwinding its
freed tether tumbled and snaked across the green grass pushed ever closer to
the streetcloser to the tepid green water then oddly still unravelling its momentum broke as if the wool stopped itself then its loosened strand built on itself and
whirled and tangled and rose and swayed to the breeze and formed into the naked
figure of a woman a woman moving like a
flame at the quivering edge of the floodwater
he stood up
as he walked towards her she seemed to want to flee she turned her head her shoulders tiltedfollowed her hips
trembled to follow but her feet her feet
werent fearful so her form relaxed and
turned back towards him
the yarn movedturned in itself but still her figure remained her features remained
gently he held out his hand a gesture he made to animalswild animals offering his scent offering his hand and fingers that bore scars
of scratches and bites he wasnt afraid to
offer it as a living olive branch
the naked turning red jazz yarn
womans figure took his hand in hers her face waxing and waning unsure
he stepped closer and extended his
other hand
she took it also
then her right hand released his
left and she gently took his shoulder
he took hers
she released his other hand took his shoulder
he took hers
then unafraid she embraced him
he embraced herthe tumult in her
tall strandthe electricity easing
she gently kissed him
the sunlight falling on them
glittered in the shared dew of their embrace
2230, Thursday,
6 12. 18
1415, Day-between-Two-Ts, 19 12.
18
