sometimes...

i dream that everyone is asleep

they stare at me
through their eyelids
behind their dark sunglasses

their coughs are snores
their sneezes are gasps
when they are startled by their dreams
they talk in their sleep

they are sleep-walkers
sleeping walkers

they dream of flying
and of broken
and unbroken hearts
and of processed cheese product

they dream of love
requited
lost.

they dream of forests and board rooms
animals and robots
friends and enemies
of what could be
of what is
what never was.

this one runs
across the street, turns
to watch
her mind's manufactured monster disappear
behind a double-decker bus

sleep late the mattress ad urges her.

their wishes
dreams
regrets
fears
they dream into a not-quite-reality
that takes its shape around them.

and i am awake
i am watching them
i am eating their dreams for my breakfast

some do not dream.

and i go away hungry