Wash and Wear

The box read:
\"A dozen dreams, delivered to your door\"
And with anticipation, I lifted the lid
and peeked inside.
I was surprised to find a box full of socks,
but I took them out gently
and lay then down in front of me;
twelve soldiers, ready for battle.

\"Wash before wearing,\"
it said.
\"Air dry.\"
So I took the socks (all white)
To the washing machine
and used the gentle cycle
then sat on the floor, waiting.

It seemed to take longer than usual, but probably because I sat there, waiting.

When the cycle finished,
I took them out, one at a time
and draped them over my arm
and walked outside.

I grabbed a handful of clothes pins
and hung each dream on the line.
Two rows of six.

Dangling dreams
dripping into the grass.

I slowly backed up, never taking my eyes off the dreams
until I turned to go inside.
Then I ran to the window to carefully watch them.
Five minutes later,
the lady from next door was standing there at the fence
head turning from side to side,
looking at my dreams...
and then,
her body stretched out as far as she could reach
she tried to catch a drop of water in the palm of her hand.

I was going to run out there, yell and scream,
“Get away from my dreams!!”
but just as I was rising to do that, she turned and walked away
hand cupped before her,
guarding the drip that she caught
as if her life depended on it.

Maybe it did.

Later that night, I folded my dreams
into my sock drawer
and went to bed.
Bare feet.

I decided to save the dreams for a time
when I felt I needed them
as much as my neighbor needed that one drop.

I have plenty of time for dreaming.