Day Dreams

by Ken Sanes

I like to sit and travel far away
to a place full of victory and dreams
as I select and revise ideas from the day
until nothing is quite what it seems.

And I get so immersed, I seem to be free,
as if time is in a state of suspension
until I lose interest in the visions I see
and I can no longer be my invention.

That’s when I notice the world is alive,
with birds that soar through the light,
and rise on an updraft and steeply dive
as they enjoy the sensation of flight.

And that’s when the cry of a living thing
pierces through the day like a knife,
until I realize that I have to sing
about the mystery of time, death, and life.

So I search for ways to achieve this effect
with words in a dance of pretending,
and meanings that echo and intersect
like birds that are rising, descending.

And I try to make it a dream that’s awake,
which evokes the truth that we know.
For myself, but also for humanity's sake,
I try to see it, and say it, and show.