Cynthia Anderson
Cynthia Anderson is the author of 10 poetry collections, most recently The Missing Peace (Velvet Dusk Publishing, 2021). Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, and her work has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. She is co-editor of the anthology A Bird Black As the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens. She lives in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree National Park. www.cynthiaandersonpoet.com
Give Me Dreams
Skeins of color arrayed in rows
close to the border of waking—
a respite from the new diagnosis
no thought or worry can solve—
Give me this place where I can see
worlds unknown or imagined,
where no one ever goes blind—
where marvels remain unexplained,
their reds and oranges and yellows
like suns that never set,
species that never go extinct,
bodies that never wear out
from burdens or betrayals—
Give me stories I won’t remember
when my eyes open.
Sheila-Na-Gig online 