One Night's Worth

Yes,
I have nightmares.

How many times
do I have to wake up shaking
before you believe
I’m fragile enough
not to be a risk?

I dreamed I couldn’t get off
the bus because
I was following instructions
from your book
(the one no one will publish
because your name is written
on every single page.)

And
I dreamed I was made
of blue waterfalls
that rushed so hard I
fell apart.
It was the most beautiful
thing that had ever happened to me
but it was still a nightmare.

You don’t believe anything
I say, anymore.
Yes,
I made up both these nightmares,
but only because the real ones
are too horrible to tell.