Awakening

Awakening: A Sestina

During an early morning dream:
I lost my way in a sea
of late night parties and rowdy revelers
who became desirable friends of the port
I blissfully explored and at times in a swing,
flying high above the buildings.

I searched for former friends within the buildings
which led me down steep hills to the sea.
I was alive, aloft, in the swing.
This woman who laughed and lived in her dream
and lived and loved on the streets by this Port
while she danced and skated among the revelers.

Down by the deck I asked the four revelers
where I might find a once visited favorite building
which harbored memories from a past visit to the port.
A handsome youth looked out on the sea
smiled a broad goofy grin and in my dream
he gestured uphill where I spied the swing.

Beyond the dozens of pubs and near the blue canvas swing
I rushed around corners and past late night revelers
to search for the answers I sought while deep in this dream.
I crossed one way streets and canvassed vacant buildings
Built long ago in a city by the sea
I came to understand I needed the port.

Surprising though it may be to some, along the port
Nothing could be more real and right than a girl in a swing
Looking down and around and those who seek will see the sea
Because it’s here that the living become revelers
And discover deep within their sleep that buildings
where food and drink are built exist in our dreams

I name my purpose by the port
a place for revelers’ dreams
of buildings and waking in this living sea.

-Jacquie Leighton 2009