Smothered Dreams

Smothered Dreams

I had dreams that
Coughed and sputtered,
And begged to be revived.
The dust of lost hope has
Smothered them in a blanket
of yesterdays gone by.

For too long I made promises to them,
All prefaced with "One day..."
Innocently they trusted me
Until their bitter end;
Until they were limp and
Hopeless beneath the scratchy
blanket wishing only for death.

Too long I took them for granted
Assuming they could last forever;
I left them there beneath
The heavy, dusty blanket,

I danced not to their rhythm,
Sang not their song, gave no
ear to their longings;
Neglecting them for what I thought
Was real; unwittingly, I smothered them.

And now my face is pressed
Against their hallowed
and sunken chests; listening to
their raspy breathing and craving
Their sweet whispers again.