The warning of water

Dream the sea;

dream river, lake

all oceans folded

into one.

Dream the place every thing

meets a horizon.

Wake precisely

at the moment

of arrival,

still rocked

by memory

of water's heartbeat.

Believe

that continents are held

in ocean's immutable

embrace.

Understand

that only in dream

is everything possible -

the chance to be reckless,

to be forgiven

all manner of things.

Dawn

summons you back,

wearing night's bruises

like marks of Cain,

returns you

to life puddling

round your ankles.

Reality intrudes

and you recognize

fissures

in life's fabric,

in earth's skin.

Mind

urges you

to take

a backward step,

to empty out your dreams

with a single yank

of the plug.

Begin again,

follow thaw

back to its beginning,

to where it recognizes

ancient sediment,

recalls

a different path

to home.

Understand

that earth alters shape

under the redistributed

weight

of melt.

Re-learn

how to breathe

under water.