NaPoWriMo 2023 — Day 22: “Interpret”

22. Interpret

Sleep music
designed to
decode messages
from dreams,
but how to make
heads or tails
of rooms
of cooing babes,
the recurring
presence of
a red snowsuit,
phones hidden
in shoe soles,
& the absence
of anyone
I recognize?

He’s beside me
rolling & rocking
like waves,
crying out
bear warnings
& I find
that easier
to decipher
than the symbols
that look
like childhood
staples dancing
on the ceiling
when I snap
my eyes open.

I’m hoping
to catch a glimpse
of the winged
harbinger, that
elusive forebearer
signaling
approaching change.
My nasal cavities
tingle with the new
season & somewhere
a bonfire of
wishes smolders.

It’s all coming
true if I notice
hard enough. If
I pull my attention
outward
colors start to speak.
They swirl with
stories & I stumble
in the dark
to record them.

In the silence
of the morning
I gather
the sheaves
& ask the sun
too many questions.

It etches the answers
upon my flesh,
& still I find
that nothing
makes sense.

Image by Chen from Pixabay