Soul’s Ascent (I Had a Dream where I met my favourite singer who died when I was 11)

I sleep

and my soul jumps

to the foghorn of your occasional smile

as I imagine it was, with the black world

and all the cages in which you found yourself.

I sleep

and my soul climbs high, high

it’s misty up there with dark trees

and you are by a fire

writing, thinking, loving

the work is eternal 

and I start saying how much your music means to me

and my voice comes out dumb and shallow

and I say ‘no one understands this sadness, apart from you maybe’

like a teenager talking about an emo boyband

and finally you smile

like the sun breaking down on the hills 

and I deflate to the ground

because I still have so much to do

and my train is late.