(Originally published in New Millenium Poets, edited by Lavender Aurora, Famous Poets Society, 2002, pp. 40) 

Awakened on each morning to a

harsh reality

The fantasy is over

A dream is just a dream

As I look into the mirror

Disappointment I do feel

The image I had imagined

Just isn’t staring back at me

But the daydreams just aren’t enough

To carry me through each day

Because the dream that I am

dreaming of

Doesn’t seem to go away

And life becomes the nightmare I

must escape each night

Little do I realize, the more I sleep and

sleep

Life is just passing me by

The world has forgotten me

Yet I continue dreaming of a dream

And I will sleep until I die