-Ekstasis (Nightmare)-

In unreal void dimensions, in a sea

Of living colors cast in subtle shades,

More varied than the boils of light which burst

To soak night streets in sickly liquid hues,

Lit by no earthly halogen, but by

The nervous, lonely minds of those they seek:

A formless form—does that make sense?—was I,

Bounded by the inertia of my will,

Determined by the space I chose to hold,

Which was not space but some quite other thing

Ideal, indifferent, immaterial,

Surrounding me not as a prison, nor

Quite as a presence, but in thought alone,

As if one wore a chain of magic steel

Which loosened as its limit was approached

And weighed as much as fear and hope combined.

You would not recognize me in this state.

But in that world of pure emotion, where

Thoughts dart through frozen fog like sullen moths

And float toward angry neon lights of heart,

Brave lights of light, electric-passioned souls,

I think that even you would feel at home:

There is, in each of us, an unreal life.