“A dream has the power to poison sleep.” 

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Ever have a dream

That was so real

It scared you to death?

I had one just last night.

I dreamt

I was undergoing

A hideous transformation.

My skin

And my facial features

Were changing grotesquely.

I started

Seeing the world

In an entirely different light.

I started

Smelling Things

In a whole new way.

I started

Believing

That I was important,

So Very Important.

I started to believe

That I owned

The Entire Planet.

I started to believe

That I was

The Center of the Universe.

Suddenly,

I was

Experiencing

Horrifying New Desires:

Greed

Lust

Power

And Gluttony.

Suddenly,

I was

Experiencing

Frightening New Emotions:

Egomania

Hatred

Anger

Envy

And Bigotry.

Suddenly,

I was no longer content

With my station in life.

Now,

I wanted Much Much More,

More Than Anyone Else Had;

I wanted Revenge;

I wanted to Plunder,

And to Pillage,

And to Kill.

I was suddenly

Truly Terrified

Of What

I was becoming.

I was unbelievably

Now

Being transformed

Into a Human Being.

Thank God, It was Only a Dream

©2006, Jessie the Cat

Several of my rescued pets

Periodically have terrible nightmares;

And I have to wake them, and calm them down.

I often wonder

If they dream about

The many cruelties they experienced

On the extremely mean city streets,

At the hands of we humans.

“Every Animal Knows More Than You Do.”

An Ancient Native American Proverb