I Dream
I'm peeking out at
the sliver of light
Visible because the
crimson blanket
Draped over the
standard rectangle
On the side of our
backroom bedroom
Tries to cover a
narrow concrete alleyway
Where the sound of a
passing animal
Skittering across
the makeshift fence
Of stacked green
plastic panels which lie
Onto chain link
usually standing firm to
The miniscule weight
of a squirrel or cat
But on this still
overcast Friday morning
I see in the long
finger of brightness
A horrific sight a
cylindrical object
Rumbles by in the
low hazy gray sky
As if being towed by
armored tank
I hear a shattering
explosion not far
Away how can this be
I am in America
I shrink back
pulling my blanket closer
And listen for another
heavy blast on
What should be an
air of Pacific cool
I believe I'm in a
war zone unsettled
The click of the
clock radio wakes me
To caffeine fueled
banter of two hosts
I am relieved it was
only a chimera yet
Disturbed that
somewhere in the world
This is someone's
reality every day
I got the slightest taste of Gaza
When the roofers
came
Walked on my roof
Tore off the old
shingles
Hammered in new
plywood boards
The next day they
returned
Laid down insulation
And proceeded to
plug in
The portable air pressure
gun
Shot rows of nails
into each tile
The noise was like a
barrage
Of bullets being
fired with
The occasional heavy
clunk
Placing more ammo
above
I felt assaulted and
ran
Outside to escape
the war
In my Cube parked at
the curb
Unlike the people
trapped
In an unrecognized
country
Without permission
to leave
Denied food and
supplies
For uncountable months
In the World War III Museum
Piles
of melted steel, rubbled bricks, and scattered wood shards to walk around for
hours
Shells of ships, planes, trucks, and cars to gaze at from an uncomfortable short distance
Shadows of humans, dogs, cats, even mice to be observed on walls and floors so close you can almost touch them
Videos of world leaders in disagreement, of people segregated in differently named countries and neighborhoods in this bunker
Finally, on these tables, mounds of cooked hair, scrapings of charred flesh, and chunks of fragmented bones as evidence we were all the same
