My heart is a hollow place
Where old dreams lie:
Smoking the opium of forgetfulness
Trying in vain to die.

I willed myself into a trance this summer,
And fell into a deep, enchanted slumber.
And as I slept:
I walked about the earth as though awake.
And as I slept:
Dark clouds came billowing in and
broke in flooding waters upon the
earth below.
And as I slept:
The clouds were burned away
and the sun, in furious wrath,
smote the ground and dried
everything to a crisp.
And as I slept:
I dreamed.

And I only dreamed of you.

I dreamt you held and kissed me.
Your arms encircling me,
Your lips stamping their love
Across my face and neck.
I dreamt of your hair:
Its opulent chestnut curls
Cascading down your elegant shoulders.
I dreamt of your lips:
Like polished marble
Carven by a master's hand.
I dreamt of your eyes:
Like endless fields of fertile earth.
Sparkling with dewdrops
Kissed by a gentle dawn.

My love burns to ash in the summer.
My heart dries to blistered leather.
I pray that the dissonant orchestra
Of the cicadas
Will lull me into a dreamless sleep.