dream

i had a dream heavy and real and cold
as steel. masses of us moved as a whole
and yet each step was taken in complete
isolation. on and on toward a steep
coal hillside we teemed , quite emotionless

it rained. in the air clung feather whitewash
as the ground grew thick with soot which hushed
our soundless stepping. up and up we emptied
onto a bridge of lead.here a human mimed,
sexless and mute, from a still white pillar

a writhing sea of minds regarded it,
bodies still as stone in the deafening thick.
pillars stretched for miles and years,
the bridge went on for centuries.

and then, at the peak of the nearest pillar
the one who mimed reached out wide,
its message lost even to itself
and here a man tumbled over as smoke ascends- silently,
hat and scarf billowing after him.