I Dreamed of Carl

I Dreamed of Carl  (There are links in the poem I did not put there and don't approve of...and I'm very upset they are inside the poem)

I dreamed of Carl
At a concert up in Deadwood,
I go into the bar and he's sitting on top of it.
I go to him and throw my arms around him
for the longest time.
What have you been doing?
His is music now, it seems.
He's with some guy
who was associated with
around
kinda
the New Christy Minstrals
And it seems to be nothing.

Then Carl goes on a plane ride
with some man
on a rikkety ol' thing
and falls off.
I search
and at the edge of a mud pit
someone notices
blood on top
and I leap in to
feel in the mud
and find his arms
and pull him up.
With some clear water I wash
off the mud.
He's alive
and he's okay.
I haven't checked for wounds.
but he's breathing and okay.

I wake up. Longing.

Leave me alone or come back.
Don't just stay at the edge of my dreams.
If you come back, stay.
If you don't, stay away.

Each dream is a torture
of an old love, my only one.
In Chicago nearly 20 years ago
and I'm still in love...I'd still be in love
if the silence hadn't grown deafening.

Copyright 2006 (C) by Barry G. Wick