Dream Sequence
after Lana Del Rey’s “Once Upon A Dream”
It starts like this: the beams lying in rainwater
& my hands quivering with mist. If I could walk
with you forever down these streets. This city like
a shrine. Our footsteps an echo that spills
over the shore, becomes reckless by the next tide.
Everything is more gorgeous in shades of violet & red.
In this one I want to say something about how longing
cleaves light from the horizon, even though we are
soundless. Only our bodies, stupid & soft, or the steeples hanging
from above. Songbirds flying west into a darkening comet.
The collateral of bells. See: I don't need it to last
until dawn. But strike matchstick with silver, the one dance
we’ve learned. I know you. Let’s do it again. Here:
the bridges collapsing at our feet, the moon tripping over
itself in the middle of a moving street. I know the dream
where I look into your eyes & the heart misfires. & I know
it’s not heaven but one day I want to wake up singing.
after Lana Del Rey’s “Once Upon A Dream”
It starts like this: the beams lying in rainwater
& my hands quivering with mist. If I could walk
with you forever down these streets. This city like
a shrine. Our footsteps an echo that spills
over the shore, becomes reckless by the next tide.
Everything is more gorgeous in shades of violet & red.
In this one I want to say something about how longing
cleaves light from the horizon, even though we are
soundless. Only our bodies, stupid & soft, or the steeples hanging
from above. Songbirds flying west into a darkening comet.
The collateral of bells. See: I don't need it to last
until dawn. But strike matchstick with silver, the one dance
we’ve learned. I know you. Let’s do it again. Here:
the bridges collapsing at our feet, the moon tripping over
itself in the middle of a moving street. I know the dream
where I look into your eyes & the heart misfires. & I know
it’s not heaven but one day I want to wake up singing.
Vivien Song is a junior at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, California. Her work has been recognized by the National YoungArts Foundation, National Poetry Quarterly, and Hollins University. Currently, she is a poetry editor for Bitter Melon Magazine and an editorial intern for COUNTERCLOCK Journal. She hopes you've had a wonderful day.