there are some dreams
that waking
brings an ache
to the heart
dreams
following Li Po’s lead: to those left behind: on this Easter Sunday in Istanbul, 2019
you are all there
in dreams
our youth on display
strength resting still
in these arms
weaker with age
there is music
Mom dancing in apron
as she sings off-key
to Al Martino
my brothers my sister
nieces and nephews
that long extended table
Charlie Aunt Mary
Grandma’s raviolis
filling the plates
seconds thirds
the turkey the broccoli
sausage and peppers
coffee and cake
platters of fruit
peanut shells and walnuts
George playing The Four Seasons
Johnny teasing Robert
Robert sighs dramatically
into his glass of wine
and I laugh
oh I laugh
waking with tears
in my eyes
Easter Sunday
in Istanbul
so very far
so very long
away
taking the lead from Paul Eluard: within dreams: for Anas Azkoul
memory stirs
within dreams
and we walk
in houses
long lost
to the past
with ghosts
of those we loved
still love
in dreams
and upon waking
walking in houses
today
in my dream
there’s shrimp scampi
an open bottle
of Pinot Grigio
two plates glasses
two chairs at the table
and you
whoever you are
sitting opposite
there in my dream
in my dream
a dialogue never heard
there
in dreams
we speak
a dialogue
never heard
out loud
in the early hours
in the early hours
of morning
before the call to prayer
you enter my dreams
and I wake
your phantom presence
next to me
a morning ritual
the aching
in my heart
so long
so long so long
the coming of morning
so long so long
the lingering of night
where is where is
that glow on hillsides
where is where is
the hopes the dreams
linger too long
there’s a tendency
for these old bones
to linger too long
in those dreams
of the night
like the moon
you would appear
in dreams
like the moon
always beautiful
but distant
leaving me
trickling blood inside
and as I rise
from sleep
the moon fading
from sight
like your ghost
into memory
of what was
is still
from lines by Su Tung-p’o
no use trying to remember
when forgetting is so hard
and all the years
fall and rise
like dreams
both good and bad
so sleep is welcome
and yet restless
as clouds drift over hills
there in the distance
as clouds drift over a heart
here in this chest
Leonard Durso 