Fever-Dreamer
©June 26th 2019
By Vijaya Sundaram
Moving shadows behind a screen
Passing through the fever
In the brain of a dreamer
In the throes of delirium.
She says to herself:
This fever will pass.
So too will these visions.
So too will I, the dreamer.
But the fever is real,
And the shadows, too.
The dreamer suffers,
Tosses and turns
In febrile sleep.
The shadows emerge,
Surrounding her, undulating,
Mouths open in silent cry.
There’s that about them
That makes her heart bulge.
They are more real than she.
Their suffering snaps at her skin
Like a rubber-band held by a sadist.
Hurting more with each snap.
She says to herself, again:
This fever will pass.
So too will I, the dreamer.
But the visions remain, mouths agape.
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