Emerson Martin

We’ll Cross That Bridge

Emerson Martin

in a dream, in the twisted fantastical world

in which our subconscious runs free, through

apple orchards and sandy beaches, climbing 

rocky mountains and scaling the sides 

of skyscrapers. We won’t worry about the outcome. 

We’ll face our greatest fears together, solely within 

our minds. I’ll take your hand, and our dream will 

become a nightmare, standing confronted by our 

greatest terrors, our violent anxieties that wrap 

their rough hands around our necks. But they don’t 

know that we can fight against them, morph into 

powerful heroes and combat our demons, with 

feathers for swords and water guns for rifles, because 

this is our place. We get to win every time. Nobody 

will match our strength, for our subconscious has

prepared us for these battles, like a wise trainer betting 

on our success, challenging us with the weakest 

weapons and the dullest knives until we can beat 

even the most invincible-seeming horrors. And when 

our conscious returns, and guides us back to our 

inevitable fate, our real, authentic lives, where not 

everything gets to be ours, I’ll take your hand 

again, and we’ll conquer them with our eyes 

open and hearts light.

Author's Note: I love writing because it brings me peace. It helps me to say the things I didn't realize I felt, helping the thoughts spill out of me. I stand by the belief that there is no "right" answer in creative writing, and especially poetry. Poems can be shaped to praise any themes and be interpreted in many different ways. My best work is done laying on my bedroom floor, writing everything that comes to mind, typically at night to help my mind wind down. This piece was inspired by my love for idioms and how you can change them to create new meanings.