WOKE

Wakefulness from nightmares does not feel safe,

nor clearly defines the life we make,

nor effortlessly guides the steps to take

while we try to stay awake

the day after nightmares reign.

The last person to fear, by those whose dreams allow

peace, security, joy and love…somehow…

are those of us who wake from dreams with screams,

and recognize the loss of hope

which forces us to stay woke

lest we descend once again

into nightmares which never end.

The American dream may be the goal

of those who dream peacefully all night long,

as well as those whose dreams unfold

as nightmares left from days of old,

and from the streets left bare

by poverty, racism and despair.

Waking cannot be a sin

for only those whose dreams begin

in sorrow and pain.

Does not every one of us awake?

Are only those who dream sweet dreams

allowed to waken in the morning light

and not have too explain

it is their right 

to stay awake?

Attacking those who awake from nightmares

instead of dreams may merely be a way

to keep some within the nightmare world

any sane person would hope to flee.

We are each entitled to awake and greet the day.

Dreamers of dreams or nightmares,

we are all the same.

I am I,  and you are you, when we are asleep.

And, when we wake. I am you and you are me,

those who waken to the same day

after long nights of life on display.

in nightmares or in dreams.

Then, morning dawns with sun’s fierce stroke.

Suddenly, we are both woke.