Local Wine

When a man touches the woman
who walks with him in dreams
he goes through a pinhole
into a night ocean of starfish
and blue whales.

He composes a symphony
for viola and waltzes on the deck
of his wooden boat until the water
goes still and gondolas gather
for an opera.

In the night air, with teeth
purple from local wine,
he makes an ascent of El
Capitan.

To his surprise, there is a bull
fight at the top and he stuns
the Spaniards
with his sharp dress
and perfect wit
and his beguiling way
with the women
of the small
village there,
in Andalusia.

He waits in the café
for his love to round
the corner, fresh from
a walk in the snow
above the village
where she has picked blue
flowers and asparagus
in her long dress.

Instead, there is a start,
as the neighborhood dog
(neatly disguised
as his real dog Miles)
pulls him hurriedly from the sea
and into shafts of morning light
filtered through tree after tree
after rose-colored tree.