All Dreams Deferred

All Dreams Deferred By Sy Roth Bilious, they lay there in a somnolent heap Dreams imprisoned. Langston toed them, and lethargically they wiggled But could not rise from the ashes of their sadness. The dreams that once took residence Wallow now in unfilled, charmless trifles Like an uncapped bottle of cheap champagne Its bubbles let loose into the ether-- A flat, unquenching drink. Is there yet a miracle in terra infirma--- A thorned crown, stigmata of pierced palms. Speared middle To awaken dreams from the icy prisons? It’s a drain to function In an eclectic world where all spread a pall over everything, Hums sad tunes, funeral dirges to dead friends, Dying in inches Toward inevitable endings, Wishing only for a tranquil pass around the Inferno Only to end up A wheelchair-bound lump of decaying flesh With Nordic icy beaches A hirsute blanket for eternity Listening to the song of the worms As they paddle their way through the soil and you Ingesting your dreams.