Poetry: In My Dreams I am Carried Inside by Dare Williams
“I’m still in half-/sleep,” Dare Williams writes—an invitation, to you, into a shared dream / shared page. Like dreams, Dare’s poem asserts, poetry is a place to rewrite our own history, to tell our own story, our way.
In My Dreams I am Carried Inside
I imagine myself
lulled by a road curving
toward a future
with safety and care
rocking back and forth
at a perfect tempo.
I’m not a debt
but soft and precious
in the backseat,
while up front
the driver is a kind man
smoothing his hands
across the wheel’s lux interior
like a potter plating stone.
The woman next to him
cares, listens, levitates
love—a tender touch
on the dash.
When we park,
I’m still in half-
sleep, lifted out and into
a warm bed, my little boat.
Though this never happened.
What I thought
was a message of hope
was a message of power.
A little prayer
begging for
its life.
Dare Williams
Dare Williams (he/they) is a Queer HIV-positive poet and artist rooted in Southern California. A 2019 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, he has received support/fellowships for his work from John Ashbury Home School, The Frost Place, Brooklyn Poets, Breadloaf, and Tin House. He was the co-curator of the West Hollywood Literature Festival 2021. Dare’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best American Poets. His work has been featured in Foglifter, HAD, The Shore, Exposition Review, West Trade Review, and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @Dare_Williams13 and www.darewilliams.com
