Among Murkiest Consequences

It’s alarming what the brain can do
When the senses are disconnected
And awareness is a bystander

Without any pretense of control.
The phantasmagoria is not
Merely elaborate, disturbing,

But following a logic no one
Waking, well-haloed in electrodes,
Armored in functional MRI,

Attendants at hand with questionnaires,
Dream journal waiting on the nightstand,
Can understand. The witticism

Of Dement, that dreaming allows us
To go quietly, safely insane
Begs the question why every last brain

Has a need to be insane as soon
As abandoned to its devices,
And how safe are dreams really for lives?