Coming to Term

Patricia Wentzel

in the dream
i dance through my day
fold the white sheets
walk the blue spotted dog
paint the porch purple
doing the next thing and the next
joy suffusing each step

between the dusting
and arranging the crib
i look up to find
the path before me diverges

like a drop of red dye in a glass of water
the knowledge spreads slowly
then more quickly
until a fierce river courses through me
leaving carmine puddles in the rumpled sheets
when I awake weeping