Realized

Realized



I spent all last night
Alone on my knees
In the school gymnasium
Constructing an expansive city

To scale
Of glass

So certainly proud of
My masterpiece
Meticulous
Rising into indoor hills 

Like Tijuana's hills but
Handcrafted

I did it easily
Worked steadily
Toward my dream
In this dream

My hands capable
My vision never doubted

Pane
Hinging on
Transparent pane
After pane

In the morning
The critic came
His eyes wide at my ambition
Open-mouthed at my youth, my dedication

Galled, though, and just trying to be kind
About the quality

The windows in the stained glass church
Were a deep, sick,
Gaudy violet
Blocked up and chalky

The scope, he said
Overwhelmed any sense

The few wooden parts were only
Finished on the one sides
Raw and splintery
On the others

From a distance
All shiny and clear

Getting closer
The elements didn't quite fit together
Too much epoxy
Oozing

And worse
The pH in my city's public pool was wrong
The ruddy men who showed up and swam there
So eager at first, so delighted to discover it

Their skin was crawling,
Blistering,

Their eyes screwed up
In tears
Unable
To climb out

The pictures
Wouldn't even be in the newspaper

Every iota
Of my work
My world, my creation
The most spectacular

Failure
I swear to God, Pablo

I know you now
I had this very dream
It was my reality
For a while, in my sleep

The night before the day
That I

Rejected

You.





by Coke Brown Jr. -
as posted on Coke's Croaks -
www.cokescroaks.com