I am wandering through a dense marsh

               trying to get my bearing,

         wondering where am I?

how did I get here?

     I am compromised by a new moon,

                  and unusual sounds

scattering about

  I walk on mud flora:

              has an extremely spongy texture,

                    every step I sink and rise up again  

I make my way through this soggy dreamscene

                step by step, lunge upon lunge,

   when I notice a stone structure not far ahead

                      through the oscillating fogbank

            yes, I can see now,

it’s an abandoned castle

                 yet there’s smoke rising into the air

I wonder who the fire starter may be

   I am drawn to it yet hesitant to move on

        suddenly, I am moving across a drawbridge

               I look over its railing to see only deep dark ripples

     ahead through an archway

 is a familiar figure

         behind it, a large campfire

              glowing green and blue streams of broken light

I begin to wonder how many nights

             I will have to walk these dreamy cobblestones

  before this fortress is razed to the ground

   and the shadowy figure is fully recognized

               escaping the current surrounding its walls

*photo by author