The Dream And The Waking

Silent but distant
Real but not seen
Here but not happening
Forever has been.

Into this absence
Two had but strayed
Retracing in circles
They surrendered, dismayed.

Behind them, darkness
Ahead, the unknown
So they stood, uninvited
...But the roots had grown.

An error, a tangent
A curious mind
An instant, a lifetime
A secret to find.

The dream and the waking
Occurring together
Realising, then
That it mattered not whether.

Imagined movements
Near shimmering webs
The Nightfall descended
To rest by their heads
Their feet planted firmly.

'Neath four darting eyes
With pupils dilated
They counted the sighs.

Their legs fading into
A curding moss
Their lungs slowly filling
With decades of loss.

That scent form the forest
Not taking, not giving
They knew only this
Not buried, not living.

Their stagnating veins
Now hidden from view
In skin for the willow
And bone for the dew.

The dream and the waking
Ending together
Understanding then
It had not mattered, ever.