DAY 14: YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT

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Glo/NaPoWriMo says, "Pick one (or more) of the following words, and write about what it means to dream of these things": 

Teacup  Hammer   Seagull   Ballet slipper  Shark  Wobbly table   Dentist  Rowboat

Taken in Scotland. Because boat.

You Never Know What Will Happen Next


dream seagull 

stealing bread flung out to sea           

a shark appears 

regurgitates a ballet slipper

or a dentist

— the remains too far gone 

for casual glance to know 





dream top-of-the-roller-coaster 

poised-to-plunge 

upraised hammer 

watch it begin its inexorable descent 

towards wobbly table 

that secretly wants to be kindling





dream cadence and caricature 

circle and swear — 

        dream this, and you're the next victim of loneliness

        whose name will erupt from strangers' lips

        unexpectedly, like roses in January 

        lava on a regrettably manicured lawn 





dream teacup in a rowboat

or rowboat in a teacup

and just like that you're Disneylanding with your boy  

and your friend from Montreal 

your boy fell asleep 

his head on a plate of spaghetti 

after a day of rides and Magic Kingdom magic

and a Pirates of the Caribbean blunderbuss to take home

(his first gun toy not made from Lego) 

years later, boy's grown up, 

friend's gone on to whatever happens next —

        dream this and you're secretly in love with a republican


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