life rafts 04/25/10

whenever i am drowned
by the flood of reality
swirling around me
i reach out
i grab hold of
the only life rafts
i know

and on these rafts i float away
down the Mississippi
or the Brandywine
to find my golden ticket
or a gaslamp growing in the snow

i go to where the sidewalk ends
or Barsoom beneath its hurtling moons
to the past to the future
to worlds that never were but might have been

i spend time with friends old and new
Jubal, Jill, and Mike
Atticus, Jem and Scout
Peter and Mary Jane
Clark and Lois

and when i am in those rafts
when i spend time with those friends
i feel safe
i feel understood

i feel home

©2010-Art Belliveau