The Floating Head Library

I had a dream one time
that my sister
ran a giant, central-branch, library downtown
shaped like a massive, tilted, floating head.

Walking around the slanted floor of the library
I noticed that one of the restrooms in her library
was for ghosts only

I slyly thought to myself
"AHA! I know I'm dreaming. There's no such thing as ghost bathrooms."
Which kicked off my journey to waking up.

But it wasn't until I was fully awake that I realized
that yes,
there are no such thing as restrooms for ghosts
But there's also no such thing as giant, floating, head-shaped libraries

But apparently I was still a little bit asleep because
It took further for me to remember
That my parents never had a daughter together

And I felt the loss of this sister I never had
Because I was looking forward to talking to her
about the dream I had

And it occurs to me
that it's a similar process
to seeing racism, privilege, sexism, and the patriarchy, etc
when they were invisible to you before

One day, as a teen, you realize
"Wow, women are really targeted with unfair body images from infancy
on every advertising surface, tv show, and movie."

and you feel woke.

But then, maybe even years later, you realize
"Jeez, the last residential school shut down in 96. People that were alive during
the '60s Scoop' are in their fifties and sixties now. We're not talking about stuff
that happened hundreds of years ago. This happened to people that are still alive.
It's happening now."

and you feel woke.

But then even later after that, you realize
"Wow, I'm complicit. And I have benefitted from my maleness and whiteness
in ways I didn't even remotely understand before."

and you feel woke

and you awaken a bit more every time
realizing what was a dream all along
piece by piece
for your entire life



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