Yes, I am a dreamer.
For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight,
and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. – Oscar Wilde
When I came down the stairs for breakfast,
the table was already crowded.
Poe, Buddha, Michelangelo, Hitler,
young Amelia in her waterlogged jacket
attacking the pancakes and granola and O.J.
Mrs. Parks golden frozen sausages.
They looked so joyous,
and all shouted to be heard –
yet no noise sounded
their mouths open, arms waving,
like “Let’s Make A Deal”
with the volume turned off.
I sat down
in the seat they’d saved,
opened yesterday’s paper
and pretended not to notice.
12/3/1971