The Clear Dream, Plain as Day

In your last dream before daybreak,
You watch a man in a white moonsuit,
Like an astronaut’s but with a jet pack,

Zoom around underwater in a vast,
Outdoor Olympic swimming pool, while
Ordinary swimmers paddle and splash.

He darts back and forth in the clear
Water over the smooth, pale blue floor,
And you think, just before waking,

Well, isn’t that like us, always entertaining
Ourselves by using prosthetics to look
Up closer at something bare for what

We can plainly see isn’t there, like treasure
Or dragons might pop out, if we stare.