Dissolving My Brain [rev] Poem by Margaret Alice Second

Every so often I fall asleep again; I'm sipping black
coffee & trying to stay awake, but it runs down my
chin as I doze off, desperately seeking the solution
that saved me as a child - one of slow reading - or
rather, drinking-in Keurboslaan, of escapism into a
noble-ideals wonder-world of integrity, enchanting
the wandering mind into calmness and stopping
awareness of physical pain until a feeling of well-
being eases my temperament - Keurboslaan is a

Drug, a fairy-tale read slowly, slowly, it rid me of
fatigue ruining my life at age ten; my head was fit
to burst - the same headache dissolving my brain
I am nursing today - nothing was left but red pain,
then visualising these scenes for juveniles quelled
the essence of pain - wandering glowing passages
where godlike beings shone, admiring the beautiful
landscape speaking sweet words; the most godlike
being leading as protagonist - more fascinating

Than anything or being I've ever come across, it's
as if my sensation of pain flees when I'm in hallowed
atmosphere of this dream-place - this small village
called Keurboslaan - a choice name for the golden
country where all characters and I are held safe in
arms of a Fate more wonderful than the mind can
imagine or words describe, now I stay awake and
only feel the headache when putting the life-saving
book down …