Dreaming sea
Samia Islam

We’ll wake up suddenly
this rainfed winter night
and carve words onto passing shadows
of iridescent trees
floating in loveless and succulent
memories
feel the slow heart beat then
in the dead of night—automatic
lights and sounds of a clichéd city
succumbing to lethargic stillness

There—in the distance—is a dreaming sea
that glows and beckons the earthbound
with promises of enchanted release
the fortune of mountains
the glory of a warm porcelain paradise
here all along the sidewalk
houses doze at night anchored ships
gently swaying on shallow waters
while we sleep dreaming of
waking up afloat