I often have extremely strange dreams when I nap in the afternoon. Even for naps that only last 5, 10, 20 minutes… Today was no exception. I struggled with how to present this to you, and in the end decided to transcribe it, just as it happened / sounded/ seemed to me when it occurred. Of course, this means its in a strange and choppy style, somewhere between bad poetry and prose. But perhaps this helps capture the meandering nature of the entity featured… Also, unfortunately i can’t provide you with the images that should accompany it. If anything, I would have liked to find a silhouette shadow of a man, sitting in the window sill’s light, smoking.
Like many of my dreams, this straddled the line of creepy and comforting.
I dozed on my bed, in the afternoon sun.
And it wasn’t long before it began.
I saw on the wall, the shadow of a man,
through my half closed eyes.
Not quite right, the shape wavered, and dragged.
It has become my practice,
at such times,
to feign sleep.
I was on my side, and soon turned over a bit more,
only to find myself suddenly ice cold, and aware,
of the ragged breathing, which was not my own.
And then, a calloused grey finger, dragging slowly, but gently, on my forehead…
T…i…g…h…t
“I can’t breathe. Could you move over, please?
I like to lay here next to you, you know.
Oh, and I know you can see me…
sometimes,
particularly in the shower…
in the evening, when its a bit later, and a bit darker,
there, in the bathroom above the garage.
I like to watch you wash your hair,
its such lovely hair, I do like it.
So I watch you wash your hair,
And sometimes, I feel, a bit like a man again.
At night, you say your lonely, but you know,
You always have friends around you.
Oh no, don’t be afraid, you’ve got nothing to fear
from the ones who gather here.
These Dead, you see, are neither bad, nor good.
we simply don’t know what to do with ourselves.
But we found you, and now we follow you.
Oh, and once or twice,
when something, not so nice
has come to haunt you,
we’ve always helped, to keep you safe,
because we wouldn’t know what to do
if we couldn’t always be around you.
Oh, we’re Clarence, and Jim, and Lily,
and then there’s him,
and a relative of the late John Addams.
In your room, in your kitchen, in your car,
At the gym.
Through all the various things that you do,
You always have friends around you.”