Used Dream Salesman

I have got offer 

And I doubt you can refuse

It’s a dream I think you need

A dream you’ll want to use

Here’s my selection

Go on, take your best guess

You’re sure to find out later 

Which one would’ve been the best

This one is a vision

A vast and open view

It’s sure to set you on your path

And make you feel brand new

Here’s one with velocity

Like a rocket off the ground

You’ll leave the earth beneath you

As you’re soaring through the clouds

I sell used dreams to those who need them

A bargain just for you

Discarded by some dreamer

Might just be right for you

A childhood memory

Is a favorite dream of many

Or this dream of being famous

My inventory’s plenty

I’ll trade them for your lost dreams

Or those you wish would go away

The nightmare you had last night

I’ll take of your hands today

Even though it was demolished

And once had a loose screw

This second-hand dream now polished

Shines better now than new

A comfortable ride

A dream to fit you like a glove

Just slide right inside

And experience the love

I sell used dreams to those who need them

A bargain just for you

Discarded by some dreamer

Might just be right for you

Here’s one where you’re floating

In a river made of light

Through a sanctuary of whispers

Toward a carnival delight

Another one you might like

Takes you down a cobblestone path

To a glorious castle turret

Where you’re really good at math

They won’t all make perfect sense

but there are diamonds in the rough

unless you take some chances

It’ll never be enough

To fulfill your sense of purpose

understand the hidden soul

with both forward and reverse

wide-eyed and wonderful

I sell used dreams to those who need them

A bargain just for you

Discarded by some dreamer

Might just be right for you

Take a spin in this one

A bargain at this cost

It will remind you of another dream

One you thought you'd lost

Some may be disappointing

The gamble you must take

To uncover your anointing

Beneath the surface of the lake

Where depths obscure and stall things

and falsify essential

this key unlocks your calling

opens full potential

Share them with your friends

connect with the universe it seems

satisfy your curiosities

when you buy one of these used dreams

I sell used dreams to those who need them

A bargain just for you

Discarded by some dreamer

Might just be right for you

by Royce Waxenfelter

12/24/19

Blackberry Pie

On our little farm on Forsythe Road

We had quite a menagerie 

Chickens, rabbits, cows, pigs, and pets with names 

Like Nipper, Montenegro, and Fancy

A thicket stood along the back fence line 

It must’ve been ten feet tall

When it’s berries turned from pink to black

We’d try to pick them all

Those summers were fun ones

Without much supervision 

Baseball cards and Matchbox cars

Andy Griffith on television

Sleeping in, then cooking eggs

Sunny-side-up like mom taught us

Then straight to the Atari

Which Santa Claus had brought us

Defender and Pitfall 

And other games we liked to binge

Like Defender and Centipede

Galaxian and Yar’s Revenge

It was a summer free-for-all

We did what we wanted to do

Backyard sports and BB guns

Sprinklers and bicycles too

And just before our mom got home

We’d race to clean the place up a little

Or she might not make us brownies

Or her famous peanut brittle

But best of all was the unmistakable smell

Of buttery crust wafting through the sky

And the fruits of our labor realized

In mom’s delicious blackberry pie!

By Royce Waxenfetler

12/19/19