Within the dream
there still are ways
you can be real,
And real is what you live for

Although these moments
do not map
against the story
enforced by concrete lines
and metal boxes rolling,
and ticking of the gears
that hold the dreamers all enslaved,
they still are potent

Each little shine of real
can throw a light against
the eyes held tightly closed,
can start to drum a reveille
against the drones of sleep

We overthrow the dream
not in its battle
but in waking —
Every way you’re real,
you help us rise.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 24, 2014