The Laughter in My sleep

                                         THE LAUGHTER IN MY SLEEP

            ****************************************

                         BY: Keith H. Seymour

                         *****************************

                  Last night,

                                                               I was oddly awakened-

                                                               by...laughter.

                                                               The laughing voice...so distinct

                                                               that I realized …

                                                               IT was...mine.

                                                               Yes, I accidentally thought of you,

                                                               which caused me

                                                               to spontaneously laugh...

                                                               during my sleep.

                                                               After all,

                                                               it seemed so absurd

                                                               that years of friendship

                                                               could possibly become

                                                               something more.

                                                               So, under the circumstances,

                                                               I couldn't help

                                                               laughing in my sleep.

                                                        

                                                              That some sobering spirit

                                                               should cause  me to unwittingly...

                                                               profess my love, and ask for yours in return.

                                                               Then  learn that I only

                                                                            might

                                                                             get it.

                                                                You  say that you think

                                                                 you may feel

                                                                 the same undying love for me?

                                                                 But need time...

                                                                 to find out for sure?!

                                                                 Which means

                                                                  you may find out

                                                                 that... you don't love me-

                                                                 eventually.

                                                                 What  a terribly ironic joke.

                                                                 So, I laughed...during my sleep.

2

                                                              I am sure God laughed too.

                                                              Only, HIS laugh

                                                              was likely louder.

                                                              For, I merely asked for

                                                              a stress free love.

                                                              Yet, HIS answer

                                                               was...you!

                                                               Then I find out that should these feelings

                                                               mutually exist,

                                                               we might...only

                                                               be able to express them from afar.

                                                               Meaning,

                                                               the prospect of your continuing love

                                                               I may eventually lose.

                                                               This thought

                                                               causes me to laugh

                                                               at myself.

                                                               Awake---and in my sleep.

                                                               I laugh

                                                              at... how

                                                              I foolishly admitted

                                                                       that

                                                                “I love you!”

                                                             Then again,

                                                             for regretting my revelation

                                                                         to you.

                                                                 Yes, as I slept...

                                                             God probably laughed too.

                                                                 With me? At me?

                                                             I'm not sure which.

                                                          

                                                             All I really know... is that HE knows

                                                             that you know...that

                                                                “ I truly love you!”

                                                             Also, unlike us... HE

                                                                   presently knows

                                                                         your...heart.

                                                              Except, HE won't tell me.

                                                              No. HE has left that task

                                                                         to... YOU!

                                                              I guess... the joke is not on me.

                                                              The joke...is me.

                                                              So, I laughed,

                                                              I laughed within... my...sleep.

2

                                                             Oh... if I had  already been “conscious”

                                                              of how happy you make me feel,

                                                             even when we're apart.

                                                             Even when I'm asleep.

                                                             Maybe, I'd have been happier

                                                             sooner, and consciously laughed aloud

                                                            and with greater frequency

                                                             Then again...

                                                             Maybe not.

                                                             Anyway,

                                                            what a waste!

                                                           Such a loss of potential laughter.

                                                             Oh, how extremely sad.

                                                           Yes, our lives may soon depart from one another,

                                                           and then... we may or may not find

                                                                                    that

                                                                           time will heal

                                                                any newly discovered  feelings

                                                                into... at least...one set of

                                                                open-heart wounds.

                                                                Such good... or not so good fortune

                                                                laughs at me, as I become aware of this newly realized     

                                                                                   love.

                                                                So, I happily think of you,

                                                                while I also laugh... as I sleep.

                                                                Last night I thought of you,

                                                                and awoke

                                                                to my own laughter

                                                                of irony.

                                                                Yes, I really did.

                                                        

                                                                Maybe we will never know

                                                                 if my timing's too late,

                                                                or if a future romance

                                                                we will at some point obtain.

                                                                But we already know

                                                                our friendship will still forever remain...

                                                                or so we think.

                                                                This I guess,

                                                                is why I laugh

                                                                when I think of you.

                                                                 Even... when I'm asleep.

2

UN-I-DENTIFIED

UN-I-DENTIFIED
*****************
BY: Keith H. Seymour
************************
I enter a seemingly familiar room… or place
even a function to which… I have been invited,
or of which they have made me…
A part.
And though the people there seen to notice me…
They really don’t.

They say hello
and ask about my health…
Always asking about… some person or acquaintance
we currently know, or at least… we once mutually knew.
Their words and expressions
that flow with continuous consistency
seem to indicate
some sort of acknowledgement of me.

Yet, the tone in their voices
and their eyes… Oh their blank eyes…
They all say something else.
I would not say it is like… I’m invisible.
It is more that… Even though I know
I am there, to everyone else
I don’t really exist
and to them I never
Really did.

High School Daze

High School Daze
***************
BY: Keith H. Seymour
*******************

I walked past the old high school the other day,
and thought of you.
Not the high school where we met…
But the one on the other side of town,
That you transferred to a year later
After
Your father got a job
As music minister at the church, next to the school
That I walked past… the other day.

As I walked past the high school
The other day, I remembered… our first date,
and how
as I looked into your brown eyes
you told me
the difference between a French horn, and a tuba.
I think that was because
I thought I could impress you by pointing out
The presence of a tuba that hung upon the restaurant
wall.
I was wrong.
It was a French horn.

I even remember what happened that summer day
that you came to my house to go swimming.
We went swimming.
And afterwards… I shyly told you
how much I adored your… freckles,
as I presented you with your favorite flowers-pink roses.
However, you replied that
we should just remain good friends.
While remembering that day,
I recalled your favorite perfume-“Misty Tea Rose.”
Although, the memory of its scent
Unfortunately eluded me.

What I did remember at the time, though
was that even then …
I knew that my feelings of love for you were real.
I knew this because,
that day I silently forgave you for breaking my heart.
Besides,
why else would I have sacrificed blood, And risked death
by raiding my mother’s “precious flower garden,”
for… a couple of stupid flowers-except for true love.
So thanks, thanks for the memory.

So, I hear that you’re an English teacher now.
Could it be true, that just as I once did,
some “other” high school boy
has now fallen in love
with you?

Anyway, I walked past the old high school the other day,
and wondered ,as I now often do.
I wondered… whether the sun still gave you those freckles.
And if you still loved pink roses, and a perfume
of Rose and Misty Tea.
But most importantly,
I wondered ...if you
ever thought about,
or even remembered... me.
As I walked past the high school...the other day.














High School Daze
***************
BY: Keith H. Seymour
*******************

I walked past the old high school the other day,
and thought of you.
Not the high school where we met…
But the one on the other side of town,
That you transferred to a year later
After
Your father got a job
As music minister at the church, next to the school
That I walked past… the other day.

As I walked past the high school
The other day, I remembered… our first date,
and how
as I looked into your brown eyes
you told me
the difference between a French horn, and a tuba.
I think that was because
I thought I could impress you by pointing out
The presence of a tuba that hung upon the restaurant
wall.
I was wrong.
It was a French horn.

I even remember what happened that summer day
that you came to my house to go swimming.
We went swimming.
And afterwards… I shyly told you
how much I adored your… freckles,
as I presented you with your favorite flowers-pink roses.
However, you replied that
we should just remain good friends.
While remembering that day,
I recalled your favorite perfume-“Misty Tea Rose.”
Although, the memory of its scent
Unfortunately eluded me.

What I did remember at the time, though
was that even then …
I knew that my feelings of love for you were real.
I knew this because,
that day I silently forgave you for breaking my heart.
Besides,
why else would I have sacrificed blood, And risked death
by raiding my mother’s “precious flower garden,”
for… a couple of stupid flowers-except for true love.
So thanks, thanks for the memory.

So, I hear that you’re an English teacher now.
Could it be true, that just as I once did,
some “other” high school boy
has now fallen in love
with you?

Anyway, I walked past the old high school the other day,
and wondered ,as I now often do.
I wondered… whether the sun still gave you those freckles.
And if you still loved pink roses, and a perfume
of Rose and Misty Tea.
But most importantly,
I wondered ...if you
ever thought about,
or even remembered... me.
As I walked past the high school...the other day.














High School Daze
***************
BY: Keith H. Seymour
*******************

I walked past the old high school the other day,
and thought of you.
Not the high school where we met…
But the one on the other side of town,
That you transferred to a year later
After
Your father got a job
As music minister at the church, next to the school
That I walked past… the other day.

As I walked past the high school
The other day, I remembered… our first date,
and how
as I looked into your brown eyes
you told me
the difference between a French horn, and a tuba.
I think that was because
I thought I could impress you by pointing out
The presence of a tuba that hung upon the restaurant
wall.
I was wrong.
It was a French horn.

I even remember what happened that summer day
that you came to my house to go swimming.
We went swimming.
And afterwards… I shyly told you
how much I adored your… freckles,
as I presented you with your favorite flowers-pink roses.
However, you replied that
we should just remain good friends.
While remembering that day,
I recalled your favorite perfume-“Misty Tea Rose.”
Although, the memory of its scent
Unfortunately eluded me.

What I did remember at the time, though
was that even then …
I knew that my feelings of love for you were real.
I knew this because,
that day I silently forgave you for breaking my heart.
Besides,
why else would I have sacrificed blood, And risked death
by raiding my mother’s “precious flower garden,”
for… a couple of stupid flowers-except for true love.
So thanks, thanks for the memory.

So, I hear that you’re an English teacher now.
Could it be true, that just as I once did,
some “other” high school boy
has now fallen in love
with you?

Anyway, I walked past the old high school the other day,
and wondered ,as I now often do.
I wondered… whether the sun still gave you those freckles.
And if you still loved pink roses, and a perfume
of Rose and Misty Tea.
But most importantly,
I wondered ...if you
ever thought about,
or even remembered... me.
As I walked past the high school...the other day.



Keith H. Seymour is a freelance writer, poet, media consultan currently living in Columbia, South carolina. He is available for poetry readings, appearances at schools, workshops, and tutoring. He may be reached at 803-960-8785 or at keithhseymour@Bellsouth.net