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To Daniel Green's previous piece

Minnie

The dream, as always, sets me wandering,
aimless, seeking. This time on Broadway,
New York, lost among indifferent crowds.

A woman, looks like Theda Bara, under
a slanted, broad-brimmed hat, smiles,
carries in the crook of her elbow, a small,
grey-feathered bird, a raptor.

Theda murmurs something to the bird,
a Slavic sounding word, the bird squawks,
(can a little bird grin?), I stare again.

The creature's head is overlarge, oddly
wall-eyed, a gaping mouth with ragged
teeth, no beak, a jutting jaw.

Curved talons grasp my arm, the woman
says, "Minnie likes you," and walks away.
I'm now possessed by an ugly bird, glaring

at me as though I were something edible,
slavers in anticipation, marks a target
on my choking throat. I gurgle a scream.

I marvel at my desperate helplessness.
need a way to be rid of this unwanted
succubus, before I'm ravaged.

At last, a feckless fool appears, and asks
the question which tags him as my rescuer,
"Her name is Minnie," I reply

She flies into his arms and I am free
to wake and wonder what this madcap
dream could mean?

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