I had a dream
in which I died
And in that dream
I neither laughed nor cried
I was in water
neither hot nor cold
I didn't feel fear
I no longer felt old
I was simply puzzled
as to how it could be
That I was alive and could breathe
under the sea
I was inside a house
Victorian style
Where sea horses beckoned
with mysterious smiles
Standing at the bottom
of a long flight of stairs
I realized I could pull myself up
by the heavy siderails
Ascending a step at a time
neither floating nor drifting away
Each step seemed to wash off
a bit more of yesterday
The higher I climbed
the lighter I became
No longer subject to the gravity
of another world's claim
I moved as easily
as if I was moving through air
Step after step
as I climbed the stairs
When I reached the top, I paused ...
contemplating from whence I had come
It was gloomy and murky
a deep shade of glum
Yet when now was then
it seemed none of these
Then glided like a butterfly
on a warm summer breeze
But time passed and the butterfly
became a cold gray cocoon
What never really mattered
was dead and entombed
At the bottom of the stairs
under the sea
Of an old Victorian house
for me to see
How could it be
that in the light all seemed right
But now sight was clearer
through the gloom of night
Embers of thoughts
flickered out and were gone
And the associated memories
as well passed along
When I paused to catch my breath
bubbles floated up under the sea
And a passing sea horse got caught,
threw back his head and sneezed
Tiny ripples of water tickled my face
and I laughed, well pleased
For wherever I am
isn't important, you see
For wherever I am
I am still me
It was then that I awoke
and marveled at this dream
It didn't make sense,
it wasn't what it seemed
Was it a ghost of the past
come back to haunt
Or was it a vision of the future
sent to taunt
It gave neither sense of dread
nor fear of death
No loss of time or space,
or loved ones left
Perhaps death is nothing more
than a passing through
Of some other space and time's
phenomenological zoo
The dream never returned
so I'll never know with certainty
The meaning of the riddle
sleeping silently under the sea
2002 Cheryl Nelson