The Dreamer and the Dream

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

Have you ever been lost
In dreamy reverie?
Have your friends laughed
When they drew you up
Out of some misty waken slumber?
Have they chided you
For missing the obvious
Or for forgetting your location?
If so, then you are not unusual.
But there are some 
For whom the call of dreams
Speaks more loudly than the thing
Which others call reality.
It seeps in
Like an early fog 
Obscuring the priorities
Set for them by polite society.
And there they think they see
Just beyond the brume,
The world which others
Pretend to worship.
Some are foolish still, 
Enough to linger
Listening 
Deep beneath the scene
To the silence -
Daring it to speak.
To some it does,
God forbid!
And calls them far,
Far from home,
Far from polite society,
To the lands of legends deep
To harrowing quests
That threaten not only their lives
But their souls.
There they fight with giants
Not only the giants 
Of the dark woods
But the giants of their minds.
And there they must keep
A constant vigil 
Lest fears, like wolves, devour.
But they are not alone
In the land of dreams
For the spritely spirits
And the friendly forest folk 
Of the wood
Watch over the wanderer
With deep concern over every footfall,
Lest he dash his foot
Against a stone.
He is one of theirs
And they watch over him
Though he see them not.
Did you know
That there are some 
So lost in dreams
That they never return?
These are the chosen few.
And it is only those who travel far 
Who are blessed
To never come back.
The end comes for them
On a distant plane
Or in a forest deep
Or on a mountain so high
That it is forgotten 
By townsfolk 
Like you and I,
And then all at once, 
They disappear
To join the forest folk
In the bright glen
That is hidden 
Even from him
Who seeks it most
And the more from unbelievers.
And there they dance 
With spirits too real 
For human sight
In the splendor 
Of their vivid whiteness. 
And when they’ve danced
The newcomers dance
And feasted at the fathers table
For a moon 
And some for the passing
Of an age,
They return to the forest deep
And wander about
Seeking some fellow wanderer
Who is fool enough 
To dream. 
You’ll have heard
Of fairy rings 
I’m sure.
But now you see
The symbol in the thing.
It’s one eternal round you know.
To dreamer and the dream.