Falling Awake

by Renee Masur

–Snapped awake from a dream

It’s forgotten the moment I move

the ache in my back says I slept too long

Afternoon seeps through the window

My fisted hand still tries

to clutch that thing in my dream — a flower?

It’s only the corner of a pillow

I shift in my sheets turn away from the sunlight

to find a way back to my story.

I grip my pillow

and wait –hundreds of flowers, dripping their petals

on golden grass–

A car beeps its horn

The washing machine

rumbles through my walls

I pull the blanket up to my neck.                 a moment

flashes through my senses

–I’m in this field to find something.

I walk barefoot      someone watches me

a man                      I try to run

towards him–

I’m pulled back to consciousness

to the fuzz in my mouth

and the thickness of my eyelids

I remember–I’ve met this man here before.

I will find my way back, tonight

When I open my eyes, I remember the things I tried to forget

wilting flowers, dirty laundry,

an unfinished poem.