dreams of color 1997-2008 by Mercedes M. Yardley

i dream of that thing
that swims under the carpet
and the broken aquarium
vomiting up starfish
my father-who’s-not-my-father
in his sawdust wheelchair
and blue sharks
gasping on the dock

the dogs tear my baby apart
and vipers strike at his tiny hands
a creature with leathery wings
i jump off a balcony to catch it

i dream of a demon with a woman’s
name and
an underwater hooker who knows me
the dead carnival and the mustached man
and a treeful of stars