.
softly
she dreams
waters deep, curious
serpents nudge at her feet
sighing mermaids lounge on
rocks idle in their romance
disinterested they curl
graceful hands
teasing
droplets
into
watery
playthings
they cup her
sweet face, gently
caress cool
cheeks
.
further
she drifts
down the stream
carried along on a
unicorn’s dream
motherly
sirens
swarm,
curving
lithe frames
arch her slumber
murmuring ancient
secrets profound
in haunting
song
.
all
the while
they fashion
weeds into combs,
drawing wavy spurs
through lustrous
tendrils
and
she
sleeps on
soundly, gathering
hushed whispers
around her
a watery
bed
to
cradle
her floating
head as deft
minnows
dart
tracing
meandering
trails between
finger spaces
.
blue
turns to black
and a stray rainbow
imagined, maybe
(or just fancied)
surprisingly sleek
and springy flips
down its bow
to rock you
a shelter
to
your
dreams
.
the
vigilant moon
shifts its opal gaze,
silently quiets the
night and weeps
a solitary
waxy
tear
crush
blueberry
skies sigh a
weary breeze and
an obedient scatter of
stars shuffle into place,
dusting the air with an
invisible gauze
of dancing
light
.
it
shatters,
skims the smooth
stillness of your skin and
the stars strain to listen to the
pure, white lilting rhythm
as it searches and
settles to the
quiet ebb
and
flow
of
the
night
.
.
.

for
you
sleep
soundlessly
a careless cloak
of clouds tumbles
down, cautiously
surrounds you,
and, you
sleep
.

© images and content Emily Hughes and searchingtosee, 2013