the bends

I got the bends this morning

came up too fast

from a deep sleep

in my dreams my old professor

was trying to dance

with thirty Japanese girls

vivacious, they kept changing costumes

he just stood there

stricken and pale

in my dreams I was always late for class

I kept taking the wrong elevators

couldn't find the classroom

I was frantic, unprepared

and my students were surly

in my dreams my dead mother

was helping me pack my bags

in my panic I couldn't find anything

she closed my suitcase

efficiently

and kissed me goodbye

even my shrink

doesn't want to hear my dreams anymore

but I can't stop dreaming them

I wake up with a start

I come up too fast

from the depths

with bubbles in the blood vessels

and the dreams just keep on coming



--Ross Bender