Dreams Have I

Dreams have only one owner at a time. That is why dreamers are lonely.

Dreams have I, though locked inside.
No one sees them, I have my pride.
They’re all mine; my innermost thoughts.
I hide them behind my quick retorts.
I change, rearrange, color them bright,
While I lie in my bed, alone at night.

My bed is mine, only one owner.
That’s fine. My choice. I am a loner,
At least, that’s the way I've had to be,
Locked alone, friendless, solitary.
I keep my past safe from probing eyes.
I cover my arm - perfect my lies.

By night my dreams come one at a time.
I remember back then to a time sublime,
When the sun in my world smiled every day,
Before they came and stole my life away.
I dream of how it would be if we’d stayed,
Before they came, and smiled, and betrayed.

They laughed - lied, befriended, pretended,
Then knocked us down when we defended,
The right to be who we are, who we choose.
They called us names, they called us Jews.
With numbers on our arms they maimed us,
And that’s why I hide, they changed us.

But in my dreams, I hug my small brother,
I play with my sister, sing with my mother.
We reminisce, I smile, my memories sweet.
At night, with my family, I am complete.
But when I wake, it’s just me left – me only,
That’s when I realize dreamers are lonely.