i i hear the rats run in the walls like water through a tree my blood thickens as i dream the masturbation dream the shelf above my bed falls covering me in dirt and decaying beetles i see my reflection is headless ii when the waves stop and the moon grins down to overtake me the car ran up the street that night when you were nearly molested in your neighbor's house is this why we do not have neighbors for this the trees rot only for us iii i woke screaming and you came to sit next to me i felt my eyes were open too wide that i could not shut them from the horror movie sitting on your lap in the easy chair in the dream the other dream in the living room under the tree why do i feel guilty iv i wake up in a pool of water closed over me like an eyelid there is no longer comfort in staring at the ceiling its pitch blackness beckons into a future of blankness my body lay still quaking my mind is chained fast to the beating of my heart v i sit up slowly creaking i find myself alone buried in an ocean far off there is an eagle flying toward me she lands on my knee and lays an egg i think not this again something i've never thought in my life vi i think not this again something i've never thought in my life not after losing my car keys in the easy chair not after scratching myself on a branch not after finding the thing in your dresser drawer that night i remember you suddenly vii you run through me like rats down an alley you are in my blood you scared me once remember jumped out of the bathroom door i fell screaming onto the linoleum did you apologize did you need to viii the ocean that surrounds me creaks like a rocking cradle your face bright as the moon at eclipse and as red low song my tide stretching to the horizon ripples on the surface belie something bigger beneath ix in bed i am alone for the only time in bed i am a grown man below the blankets i know you for who you are in bed i see your face pressed against the window i look out and see you and i am not afraid