LAST NIGHT I DREAMED MY LOVER
Last night I dreamed my lover was a piece of candy, a red jawbreaker that I bought for twenty-five cents from a tall gum-ball machine in the grocery store near my old house. Last night I dreamed my lover was a kite, a pink Barbie kite, a perfect diamond shape that flew straight up in the air with one gust of wind and then dove straight back down, smashing its pointed nose to the ground when I wasn't looking. Last night I dreamed my lover was a guest-star on The Love Boat, which didn't make much sense because my lover is very young and was only three or four years old when The Love Boat was on regular television and not Nickelodeon and back then there wasn't even any cable, something my lover does not remember. Last night I dreamed my lover was a can of grape soda, the cheap, store-brand kind of soda that only costs fifteen cents when bought by the case, the kind of soda that turns your lips purple. And then I woke up and shook my lover awake. I told him how I had imagined him a red jawbreaker, a pink Barbie kite, a guest-star on The Love Boat, and a can of grape soda. My lover smiled and said how he had imagined me an albino kangaroo, living happily on the Australian outback, which didn't make much sense because a white kangaroo wouldn't stand much of a chance hiding from a hungry dingo.