Show me the way out.
I’ve been wandering
these back rooms
for far too long,
searching for something familiar.
Hopeless as an empty shopping mall,
this place exudes a certain hunger.
One that never ends.
A devouring force of nature.
Pass upon another theater.
Always the same thing that’s showing.
Some inane melodrama,
sticky floors and stale popcorn.
People come and go.
Autonomous beings,
like data clouds.
Light upon an optic nerve,
just sensory information.
When I think to go inside,
I feel your hand upon me.
I look at you
and see the warning in your eyes.
A shake of your head
and a soft “No.”
The you lead me to
a door
hidden in a wall.
You open it
and there are stairs
leading down
and out.
The look of your face is urgent.
“Please hurry!”
I descend.
No longer in between.
Or have I just woken up
into another dream?
I don’t know much
about this place,
but I know the feeling
of what it’s like to be saved.
Out of that in-between space.
Back again.
Home and awake.
DJR – 2023
