Anna, Dreaming Poem by Maya Hanson

She sleeps with her arms
flung above her head
a beautiful rag doll
come to life

She tosses and turns
As the night drags on
She speaks to a friend
no one can see

She's a shadow
cast upon the wall
By the glow of the miniature moon
in the corner

She laughs with her teeth showing,
Loves with her arms open wide.
But I like her best when she's sleeping…
And that is Anna,
dreaming.

She rests on a wooden frame
made of their memories of her,
the hands she's held
and the shoulders she's hugged,
and the people who brush past her on the street
with lives of their own.

She thinks of another home,
with a bright green door
and purple flowers
covering her shoes.

She wishes,
just like anyone,
but she is content
to lie on a wooden frame
with her arms flung above her head.

She laughs with her teeth showing,
Loves with her arms open wide.
But she's most beautiful when she's sleeping…
And that is Anna,
dreaming.

Her light hair
is draped across her face,
shivering in the wind
that is every breath she takes.

Her closed eyes
with their fragile lids
tell me everything
I need to know.

She loves things she knows
and things she doesn't know
and things no one knows
and things that don't exist yet.

She laughs with her teeth showing,
Loves with her arms open wide.
But I wish you could see her sleeping…
And that is Anna,
dreaming.