ON DREAMS

Dreams are onehundredyearold children;
they have no language for selfdeception.

Do not be overly concerned with the content

of your dreams. They are, in part, figments of the truth.

But they are also spirits of the dead passing messages

through the troop of floating street mimes to whom

you’ve just tossed a couple of golden ferrets. Dreams

are mostly magic.

Caution: in dreams, all toilets are props.

If you are unable to sleep, then sleep in

as late as possible. Sleep in tomorrow’s clothes,

just to be safe. Sleep with your nametag on,

with your security card around your neck. In fact,

sleep through your alarm, through breakfast,

even through your shift. Bosses respect

sleep. Remember: there are no morning people,

just parents and the functionally insane.

If you see a window, jump through it immediately.

In dreams all fights are to the death.

Dreams are the excess of our minds impression

of the physical world. In the physical world

there are no solids, there are no straight lines.

Dreams are what are swept from the editor’s

floor and burned.

About the Author

Rocco de Giacomo is a Canadian author, editor, and poet who has been published in eleven magazines, four full-length collections, four anthologies, five chapbook collections, and has received grants from the Canada Arts Council in 2023 and the Toronto Arts Council in 2021. He also edited for the anthology Looking Back Looking Forward in 2005 and the website Latchkey.net from 2002-2007.