Nicoletta A. Poulakida

The Difficulty Of Dreaminess

Closing my eyes
after a large glass of beer,
in the shadow of the night
I listen to the song of a cicada;
and the hour is marked by its
instructive intermissions.
When it rests, I try to rest too.
The cicada starts again;
its high-pitched drone urges me
to learn about myself.
Yet another pause.
Somebody is coming; I toughen,
resisting the flutter of my eyelids,
and won’t open my eyes, no, not yet.
But restlessness prevails;
my concentration rustles
in the sound of footsteps.
It is difficult to keep my eyes shut
and keep on dreaming of
being its relaxed student.