Poetry by Caleb Azu

Edited by Erica Leal

I had a dream

*     

of a world full of color 

 where golden hues kissed the horizon,

The sky a different kind of blue

 and the sun setting…..

a fading amber hue 

And you stood beside me, your laughter

Mingling with the whispering wheat fields.

We spoke of waves and your dreams of conquering the tides.

 I wondered: were they ever mine?

Perhaps who you are isn’t meant to be defined, 

but discovered moment by moment, 

In the way you choose to live. 

You’re the choice you make, 

And the love you give.

*    

I had a dream

*  

where I danced with glee

in a field of grass

amidst the darkness,

 under a purple night sky

encrusted with shimmering diamonds 

against the black backdrops.

Teach me the language of desire,

So I can have the courage of vulnerability.

A burden is lighter when shared

 even going off course by a few steps could bring changes in your life.

So how could you not draw a line and follow your instincts

to try for a love that lingers long after we part 

and embrace passion, even when it leaves scars.

*    

I had a dream 

*  

 of a warm sandy beach

and salty seas with gentle waves.

The breeze, a kiss that takes to flight.

and the sky explodes a burst of orange light that fades with the day.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction,

but I guess different things matter for different people.

That night, despite no one putting a blanket on me, 

somehow I felt warmth

*    

I had a dream 

*  

of my favorite book and how it ends, 

but in reality it all depends 

on the Sunday afternoon 

when I’ll see you again

even though it’s okay now,

 I just can’t switch my views created from desire.

 and hopefully, we won’t be just strangers in a dream.

*    

 I had a dream

*  

 you said “I love you”,

 and for a moment

 and I had someone to lose.

 But as the lights dim,

I touch myself alone,

thinking of a love that blooms only at night, 

dissolving with the dawn.

That which was the only evidence of its fleeting existence—

*

I have a dream

*

of  a whisper in a glass,

A fairy tale spun from liquid courage.

The bottle, my fairy godmother,

Fueling visions of a life we might share.

You are both the story and its end,

both the wish and the emptiness.

In the silent space 

between what was and what could be,

I wait–

for you

for the dream,

for the whisper in the glass

 to tell me a tale of us 

to breathe once more.

I stand on the edge of reality and fantasy.

The fading dream leaves a lingering trace—

My hand still yearns for your embrace.

Even if just for a night,

I give unconditional love, 

because in turn, I hope you give that love. 

But as the glass empties, the warmth fades,

and the only thing left is the ghost of you,

still craving your touch.

every time the glass meets my lips—

a fairy conjures a life that cannot be and my heart aches

The bottle tilts, its silence heavy,

and I wonder if you ever felt it too.

That whispers softly of what could be—

*

I have a dream

*

of a love

that exists only in the last sip of an empty glass bottle.

was this a dream for me or my reality? 

The grass is greener where you water it.

At the end of the day, one thing never changes–

nothing lasts forever.

 and I had come to hate the very thing I swore to protect.

*