I Had a Dream (or Three)

I dreamt I was a crocodile
nibbling nubile toes,
living in a swimming pool –
as David Hockney knows
a bigger splash is always made
(and always was) by those
who dive into the deeper end
and rise to thumb their nose
        at duds who neither dare nor win,
        whose deckchair wisdom’s the real sin.

I dreamt I was an alien
dressed up to look like you
with ears and eyes and nose and lips
stuck on with lunar glue.
Needing no sleep, I paced the pale
streets the whole night through
distributing the dreams to make
this sullied world brand new –
        but terrifying those who woke
        to find their safe past now a joke.

I dreamt I was a telephone
ringing in the dark
chateau’s ancient, empty wing
while in the moonlit park
the count concluded he had failed
fearing her vital spark,
and hanged himself – far, far away
she put the phone down.  Hark –
        his countless ancestors file by,
        each whispering an alibi.

Tom Vaughan

If you have any thoughts on this poem, Tom Vaughan would be pleased to hear them.