An American Love
I dreamt of a Kingdom in the Sky
Teeming cities and purple mountains
Stretching far and rolling wide
I dreamt of a great foundation
Cradled in the arms of the fallen
A black and blue, a bloodied nation
I dreamt of blossoming fields
Oh, Earthy Mother
What sweet fruits she yields
I dreamt of false riches
Riven by grubby hands
Bodies that sleep at night in dirty ditches
I dreamt of heroes that flew
On the hopes of the Father
Whose wishes they surely knew
I dreamt of an american love
Weaving in and out, in and out
On the wings of the innocent dove
I dreamt of sweat drenched Pride
Hands holding weathered tools
They never let go, not even to die
I dreamt of bitter winters
Rivaled intensity only in
The summer’s splinters
I dreamt of Rivers coursing through like blood
Hot and wet and wild and strong
Splitting and caressing a mighty brood
I dreamt of ageless grace
Time boundless, bare
An angel’s face
I dreamt, holy water dashed across the ground
Rivulets through the cracks
Silence, the thunderous sound
I dreamt of blood-stained whips
Biting the skin, again, again
Till nothing is or was or could be but rips and dips
I dreamt of white and black stones
Grappling in a bitter dance
But bones are bones and bones alone
I dreamt of a Great Sorrow
Babies crying in the slums
And no food to borrow
I dreamt of a giant falling to his knees
“Oh,’ he cries, “help me.”
Help me, please
I dreamt a fissure occurred
“What was that?” “An end?”
Absurd
I dreamt of people, noble savages
Crawling and writhing
Like an enemy ravages
I dreamt of a sickness so quiet
“Lay, lay…lay down your arms”
Lay down in the endless night
I dreamt a slithering snake
Take, break, ache, rape
These desires you will slake
I dreamt of a forgetting
What is Pride in Work and Work in Pride
Oh, the hopeful begetting
I dreamt of people tumbling down, down
To where I slept and dreamt
Landing hard, without a sound
I dreamt a dream
The Kingdom of Kings
Ceased to be
And I wondered perhaps,
Had I dreamed even me?