She's dreaming of me again. Her eyes move under the lids and her hand rests limp on my hip. I watch the quirking of her mouth in the monochrome light. I won't sleep now for sure, so I ease out from under her arm and from under the covers and pad to the living room and my couch. Outside, the streetlights are a row of false moons and someone comes home late in a taxi. The fine German motor hums softly and they spill out huddled close, stumbling and laughing. A pale BMW fades away, and somewhere a door closes firmly on silence. Now-- where were we? "I stumble down a steep path. At the bottom people laugh distantly, playing in the huge waves of a blue-green cove. Tired of the intricacies required of my feet by the path, I lift myself up and float instead. Emboldened, I swoop suddenly down, straight into the largest breaking wave. Silence. I sink down slowly, the water cool and alive all around me, and have no need to breathe. At the bottom in the white sand I see your face, spreading over the sand like a vast--" I open my eyes. My legs are extended crookedly, thin and white and luminous on the fine dark color of the sofa. I rub one jutting bony knee and sigh. "--I see your face on the bottom, faint and glowing and I want to go to you. You are smiling. My lungs are bursting, though i have no need to breathe. I sink, faster and faster and sink right into you. Suddenly I am in a city, an ancient brownstone city, and I know the city is really us. I look at you, and your face changes. Your eyes widen. I look up and the tops of the gold-tipped towers shimmer and silently crumble. From somewhere starts the long downward moan--" Stop. I open my eyes again. Across the street in the gap between houses the black night of the sky is moving to indigo. There is in truth a siren wailing softly somewhere across the river. I unfold from the couch. The cool blonde wood feels good on my feet. Her dream ended, I will be able to find sleep. "--I know the city is us, and you have brought me here to show me how beautiful it is." In the morning she will tell me her dream and I will swallow hard and reply, wondering how long I can manage this deception.