once upon a time

i dreamt of

gingerbread legs

pounding the ground

to hide away

from ravenous mouths.

 

they called out

and couldn’t be caught

as they disappeared

under couch cushions

and slipped through

cracks

of a faulty foundation.

 

but when i’d awake,

your words would

scamper through my troubled head

and i’d coax it all away

to sit down

beside you

as something

(beneath me?)

            crumbled.