NOTHING UNDER OR BETWEEN by Justin Wade Thompson

i had a dream
where time wasn’t
running out
and video rentals
weren’t a thing of the past.
and i woke up with
a cat on my chest
speaking the eternity
and a woman next to me
breathing softly.

and i knew i was dead.

not some morbid feeling
of things moving toward a
not-so-distant end
but a dead feeling
like i was no different
than the sheets
against my skin
or the hairs on
the cat’s back.

no different than
dust or dirt or salt on fried eggs.

and i felt good
about it.

and felt dead about it.

and then
i remembered
my dream.

i was fishing with
a cane pole
and the turtles
kept eating all my bait
like sharks or
unattended children
and time was in fact
running out.

not by the clock
but by the sun slowly melting
into night
and i had to run home
before the streets disappeared
to leave me wandering
without a flash light.

tripping over my own
shoe laces
in the dark.

About the author:

Justin Wade Thompson was born in New Braunfels,Texas and currently lives, humbly, in a trailer park, in the capitol city of Austin. He has never pursued a higher education, career, or full-time employment.