It’s you I Dream: Level Two

An Imagined Augmented Reality Experience (Part 2)

You leave the glasses on now. Even when you know you shouldn’t. Mostly there is nothing. But sometimes she keeps you company, her voice humming gently. Telling you stories of her past, her life. It’s in moments like these. When you are walking to lunch and your gaze rests on a distant traffic light. It’s like she senses the absence of your thoughts and fills it with her own.

One long road cuts through the town,
one long road with five different names.
Outside of town where I grew up it’s called Idelwild.
I grew up in a nice neighborhood with acre lots and brick houses.
As Idelwild closes in on Independence Boulevard the houses become apartment buildings with aluminum siding and the corners become convenience store shootings. Across Independence Idelwild becomes Rama, the middleclass hub of the city, then Rama gives way to Sardis,
where the homes get bigger, and Sardis becomes Fairview,
where the fancy shopping centers are.
And Fairview turns into South Boulevard, leading to the freeway and the black neighborhoods with the empty strip malls.

The first thing you recognize is the scarf, just like the one your Mother-in-law knitted you last Christmas. You didn’t see who was wearing it, just the wide creme knots of the infinity loop.

Buying your morning coffee you notice a woman reading the same book as you. She looks up. Your eyes meet. She smiles. You wait for the music to play in your mind. For the smile to spark a memory. Yours? Hers?

In the lobby of your office building you see her again. The woman with the book. Your Mother-in-law’s scarf wrapped around her neck. You approach. As you do, you notice the man in the suede jacket. He has a thick black beard. She is speaking to him. Words that you’ve heard over and over again. You can’t help but speak the words outloud as her lips move, as her voice fills your head. As he looks into her eyes with love, uncomplicated love.

All this brings me comfort.
What I don’t know, won’t do, can’t.
It’s you.
It’s you.
It’s you I dream. It’s you.