I was watching
a deer walk
slowly across
a frozen river.

Somehow I knew
that the ice was
thin, it could break
at any moment.

I opened my
mouth but nothing
came out of it.
I couldn't warn
him, he could die.
It would be my fault.

The deer started
to run across
the frozen river.

I was relieved,
the faster the
deer ran the more
safe he would be.

Then suddenly,
it was me on
the river.

The deer was gone,
but I could feel
the thin ice cracking
under the weight.

I knew what would
happen next,
the ice would break
open, swallow me
whole, the cold would
hit me like a
hundred knives.

The ice breaks,
but instead of
the expected cold,
there is the warmth
of my blankets,
and the security
of my bedroom.

It was all a dream,

unconscious reality,

It wasn't real,

I was so convinced
it was,

It never really happened,

but I can still remember it.