Become the Other Dreamers

I ran a hot bath and asked her to pick a page from the book I’d pulled from the shelf. After just a moment, she replied, “118.” As I turned to the page, I had to smile to myself. It was a passage about equality, lovers, and a dream.

“Now I pierce the darkness, now beings appear / The earth recedes from me into the night / I saw that it was beautiful, and I see that what is not earth is beautiful. / I go from bedside to bedside, I sleep close with the other sleepers each in turn / I dream in my dream all the dreams of the other dreamers / And I become the other dreamers.” -Whitman