what happens if the sandman closes his eyes and drifts away?
is it too much energy sometimes to be the dream king?

tired of spinning sandwebs for others,
the sandman lays down and closes his eyes.

and do the stars fall down?
only to look at the way he breathes
only to cast some light on the black of his cape
only to send some night down to him
rest easy, morpheus, good night.

once asleep, he is left at his own mercy:
he dreams what he, the dream king, weaves.
and though unconscious, he still sends out signals;
slumbering eyes fill with his grains
as he sends nightmares and wishes and visions their way.

he dreams of forever, of infinity
stretching out before him like a massive jet trail.
he dreams of pasts that no one else has seen;
he dreams of the parts of people no one else encounters.
he dreams in vivid color, infrared, ultraviolet:
he dreams in silence and whispers and ultrasound.
the dreams of the sandman reflect between two mirrors
he sees what he saw what he sees what he saw.

his nightmares are hell and his daydreams new worlds
his subconscious fails to tell him it's false
for minutes and hours, he's lost in himself
unfinding his way through the darkest corridors,
he becomes quicksandman, drowning in his own gift.

what will it take to shake him awake?
no one can rouse to wipe the sleep away.
when the sandman drifts off, we could lose him forever -
what happens when the sandman closes his eyes?

© Jess Zelhart, 2004. Thou shalt not steal.