Paco de Renaldo's Dream

It was a dream I had

This room was in the middle of a sandy plain

The walls were gone but the doors and windows remained

At the side of the bed were soft cushions

Two-dimensional ships like ocean liners sailed across this desert

As they passed, their huge bulks disappearing into a thin line

These ships were always full of people facing windows

I set off to find their port

It seemed like days, walking

Following deep tracks, the boats kept passing by

I came to an unmanned sort of harbour

Stood on the sand at low water

At which the larger boat creaked and lowered its doors

And one by one the ships descended to the sand

And sailed off in their different directions across the desert

The carrier was then refilled with ships arriving in perfect time

I watched seven or eight of these drop-offs

And realised the process, the ships and the people within them never differed

I thought about following any of these ships to the end of their journey

But suspected I would end up back here

Or a place so similar that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference

I can't sleep in this bed anymore

It's like a padded cell

The sheets are too tight

A strait-jacket bed

Spent?

A man of your success?

I'm tired of it

Uncurled at the back of the head

Walked over to the window

Climbed on the window-ledge

And jumped out

I wasn't scared

I know I can fly

A quiff, a whiff of smoke, an empty egg

Roses north (I don't know how long we'd been walking)

A front room (endless hours, weeks, years even)

Lino, yellow Formica (we didn't know)

Lots of milky tea (only onwards, forwards, onward, in, over a field) (I don't want to do this)

Unmatched to match the unmatched plates (the sun sets in the west) (I really, really, really don't want to do this)

Odd straight-backed chairs (this is where we started each night) (you made me do it)

Steamy glass-pane window (we could only travel at night) (bang, now, bang bang, outside the door)

Warped door, Embassy No. 6 ashtray (we would conceal ourselves in the missing light 'till darkness fell) (I awoke, ran downstairs)

Chewy chalk (nobody knew where we were) (a letter dropped to the floor)

Toasted cob, mustard (where we were going) (I bent, then the door)

Crinkly-cut chips, bendy fork (a vague sense of direction) (swang open)

Polyester, pink gingham (cracked my head)

(nothing told us where we were) (unconscious fell)

(we always somehow managed to keep a straight line) (I awoke, the dog)

(licking my dick)