rules (are only guidelines)

he woke to find the world had moved
as if rent by a seizure
while he slept

where the city ran before
was the lapping of waves

the mountains there
were nearer
the distance
some way further off

everything remained familiar
but displaced

and in his mind an echo
a suggestion that he’d lived all this before
in a half-forgotten instant
that occurred while he was unconscious of it

how strange
to find his dream made real
how odd
if he should happen to be sleeping yet

the earth beneath his feet
seemed fully solid
he could feel the nothing that is air
with each breath he inhaled

every single thing the same
but everything quite altered
a playing piece unexpectedly moved
in some cosmic game

everywhere he looked
the rules had changed

---

© Frank Prem, 2009