I still can't escape this dream.

Am I doomed to drift forever

in this twisted reality?

Everything was dark still,

Cerulean blue,

like your favorite crayon as a kid.

You were swimming in it--through the waxy blue.

Slowly, like the strokes of color into paper,

or the pace of a solo drop of water

falling from a leaf.

Slowly.

You were moving...walking...wading forward

so

so

slowly.

"Wellllllcoooooome.

Welllcooome.

Welcome to ressst."

Encased in the mystic blue

from a curled sofa there lay a young man

beautiful, made you breathless,

and he waved a lazy hand.

"This is where you can go forever

and return and it's been just a day.

This is where you can hide from the world,

from yourself,

but you may never go outside to play."

He stretched out a delicate hand.

"Come on now.

Don't be afraid to stay."

This doesn't seem so bad.

He doesn't seem to be mean.

Maybe the worst parts are over

of this scary, awful dream.

"Ah, I can see you're upset.

I have the solution, my new friend.

Come rest a while on this sofa with me.

Come rest, recline, unwind, turn a blind eye

to all of the voices screaming in and around you.

It is my very favorite thing to do."

"But the voices have been so very loud.

The awful things, I can't just forg--"

"Let's play a game!"

A deck of playing cards appears and he starts to deal you in.

You aren't sure what you're gambling for,

but you pluck up you hand.

One, two, three--DROP.

"Looks like you won that round, but I can win the next."

You shrug and say, "Cards aren't really my thing."

The man in blue gives a sneer.

"That's too bad, because it's all I have--

and there is no easy escape from this room.

When you want to hide from yourself and the world,

well,

by golly,

yourself will let you."