Imaginary Hollywood Poem by Carolyn D. Wright

The set was on when she fell asleep



In black and white



a woman was gliding through a garden in period clothes



and a child was touching



a pane of wavy glass with the flat of her hand



Another woman



was all but flying down a spiral stairs in a flouncy gown



that showed off



the cut of her breasts and a lone golden strand



of hair playing at her ear



It was because of…she didn't want to grow any older



her resistance



was strong the dream's spores hung in the air



in another room



a parent was dying in short shallowing breaths



she needed



somewhere to put all of that emotional excess



that's the way



it was when she began talking in fake accents



sleeping late



as a lake to avoid as many hours of living



dread as if dread



could be outslept; the stretch limo



in her eleven-year-old



head wrapped itself around the corner



That's the way



it would be, everyone slender as drinking straws



nobody leaky



or hurting or abjectly religious, everything



allbillowyellowyorangeyflowywonderfulness