The Bridge by Sue Blair ---------- The clock ticks out its hollow beat As I disintegrate Slipping toward the indigo sky and sea Of the twilight world I let go the daily motions Of the life that I mimic Dead weight Approaching the tenuous bridge Which rises above the rush of lapping waves And the thousand minnows that need to be caught The bridge is the dream is the drug Easing the pain Caused by the senselessness Of a callous world I should let it go Instead I cherish it And wrap it in my thoughts I fear that if I let it slip I shall lose the final shred Of meaning Though the disparity Between reality and the dream Is destroying me I am a piece of fabric Stretched between logic and emotion The threads are pulled and torn Between the warring poles Twisted in a wounded lump As I awaken, your beautiful image fades As I acclimate To the daily realization that you're gone Slowly, the coins of reality Drop one by one Into the pool of my dreams Dead weight Pummeling the gossamer bridge Which overlays the vast swirling waters Of denied feeling and subconscious desire The dream is the bridge is the tap To the beauty That can no longer exist In the waking world I cling to what is gone Reliving it Basking in illusory warmth I fear that if I let it go I shall forfeit my last shard Of compassion Though the chafing Of my honor by my weakness Is disgusting me The boundless calm is stirred Into murky dull patterns Until the dream is gone My heart cannot be lifted again Until next I sleep