the collective unconscious

i needed
three beers
and two bourbons before
i could say this

there are more things worth imagining
than i usually bother to imagine
and when i do bend to that task
it’s not all that interesting

i fantasize like anyone else
power
sex
love
god and inclusion
we all have the same head
this is why freud got recognized
this is why people bothered to learn
how to pronounce
jung

i am not old enough to recall
those days before our brains understood
their power
i do not recall when it took
a cranky woman or grumpy man
with a mystical reputation
to tell us what these flashes in the night
might mean

now we understand
most everything
and forget it
before the first coffee

however
tonight i’m
loosened
enough to swear
i’ll not forsake
the fantasies that spring
unbidden from within
this head

i will lie down
and pretend at first
that the dreams i have tonight
are new and
personal
i will refuse the interpreters
i will banish the seers
as if this head were original

but then
somewhere in the night
i’ll recognize that i am
nothing
i’ll find myself in the fact
of my simple sweet
normality
and recognize that this
fantastic head of mine
is no more splendid
than anyone else’s
and my dragons
and flying carpets
and water
and naked assemblies
are the ones we all have seen
ridden on
floated on
feared

and then I shall
thank god that you are here
my friends
thank god for the prosaic nature
of all our dreams
for
it is good
not to be
alone with these things

when i close my eyes
and see the Shadow
i will reach for you
knowing
that you understand