Dream Catcher

Hanging on the wall,

a beautifully woven web in a hoop,

with brightest feathers and lustrous pearls

mockingly waving with the gentle touches of the breeze

that makes it sway to and fro.

Ah! It's a dream catcher,

meant to protect from nightmares

sneaking in stealthily

in the middle of the night.

Dangling there, it assures

however stark the truth of life might be,

visions will still be sugary sweet.

How foolish it sounds 

live your dreams,

and that the visions

seen with open eyes come true.

Isn't it contradictory?

Because while existence is often nightmarish,

sound sleep embellishes your head

with a precious, gem-studded crown.

In slumber one can be queen or king,

while in reality one is either a pauper

or no better than a joker

in a circus ring.

What you see with open eyes around

is mostly bleak and haunting,

where you may beg to be heard,

trying hard to make insensitive people

step in your shoes.

All ventures are totally futile.

While the dream catcher assures,

dragging you away from all dull and dismal things

and promising a fairyland,

there you indulge in long, self-explanatory monologues

which all can sympathize with and understand.

A realm where no loved one parts,

where there are no shreds

of painfully breaking hearts.

A place where there is cure for all ailments,

Minus even a single

painful moment.

A world where there's no dreary and dry season,

but everything is green and vibrant,

since the only season that reigns

is spring.

A land where you are loved and adored

till eternity,

and no one subjects you

to coldness and silence

among your loved ones, friends, and fraternity.

Alas! But this world of illusion

is temporary.

Because you grow and realize

you cannot always sleep

with the nightmare-free lullaby

once promised

by the radiant dream catcher.

For the dust of reality

surely settles on its graceful hues,

slowly dimming

its charming colours.

Still I would go

with the world of allusion and illusion

where all's pearly white

and darkness doesn't bite.

And for this

I remain ready to keep changing

the dream catchers

as many as I need.

for when stark reality

threatens the gentle breaths of life,

I gladly choose

the dream catcher as my ventilator,

though it still mocks

for it and I both know

it is only a beautiful falsehood.