I’m a dreamer with a laundry list of things
I hate. Snot is one of them.
I wish I could hide myself from their hands

but they know how to dig into me,
ripping out a tiny sheet of puffy dream
just to wipe their dribbling noses.

When they don’t need me, it’s beautiful
when dust settles on my shoulders.
I feel like an angel blessed with wings.

Among clouds I float all day long,
warmed by dreams of their perfect health,
where their rooms fill with contented silences.

Dreaming and waking
is a constant war of letting go.
I long for a time when no one needs me.

—

Raymond Luczak is the author and editor of 19 books. Some of his recent titles include The Kiss of Walt Whitman Still on My Lips and QDA: A Queer Disability Anthology. He has been nominated seven times for the Pushcart Prize. His next book will be The Kinda Fella I Am: Stories (forthcoming, Fall 2017). A playwright, he lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and online at http://raymondluczak.com.