dreams in our town weren’t like most
as they didn’t accompany sleep
and they birthed and died with no illusion of realization
often times coming and going without notice or care
existing merely as a mechanism to instill
the sense of inevitable failure
that filled the organs of others
who never left
or who left but never really left
who noticed the remnants of our town
in neglected toilet bowls
they often manifested in
the flaccid, helpless motion
of a man dying from dementia
as he scratched the flesh
from the same ticket
he always scratched
some said they weren’t really dreams at all
some said we were never really awake
I wasn’t sure about the definition of dream
but I watched the man scratch
until his fingers bled
and inhaled the excess
hoping I’d feel something
or remember something
or forget it all
some days
I wondered if he’d ever stop prying at the unhealing scab
or if we’d ever find out if we won or lost
some days the itch
was soothing enough