Emily Dickinson




531

We dream - it is good we are dreaming -
It would hurt us - were we awake -
But since it is playing - kill us,
And we are playing - shriek -

What harm? Men die - externally -
It is a truth - of Blood -
But we - are dying in Drama -
And Drama - is never dead -

Cautious - We jar each other -
And either - open the eyes -
Lest the Phantasm - prove the Mistake -
And the livid Surprise

Cool us to Shafts of Granite -
With just an Age - and Name -
And perhaps a phrase in Egyptian -
It's prudenter - to dream ”