Ask me why I’m awake.
I guess I could
seek for an answer.
A voice called me
from my dreams
into this world
for some reason.
Run the body,
break a sweat.
Push that new ritual,
and when I’m spent,
realize that I
haven’t been awake
in a long time.
Cold shower comes.
No recourse
and no resistance.
Finally,
there is a crystal revelation,
and a moment
of startling clarity.
Am I awake now?
I think I am.
Later, I am chasing breakers.
Finding frustration
on the shoreline.
The same jagged cliff
my father played a long
as a child.
Atlantic grey swells,
and a fortress sky
find me standing.
at the edge again.
No hope.
No sorrow.
Only my eyes
and the endless tumult.
Prognostication
in crashing waves
and impenetrable clouds.
Cold shower comes.
Salt spray,
driven by a Northeast wind,
and I think I am awake again.
Step back
from the edge.
The sea and sky
will wait
for another day.
If I am awake,
I will go back to my dreams,
and if I am dreaming,
I have nothing to fear,
until the next cold shower comes.
DJR – 2023
