Spice Dream

I woke from a dream this morning I was having
A slumber-party with the
Spice Girls.

They were sitting on the bed (some
Gargantuan construction I
Never slept in) and I was

Fiddling with a boom-box
Behind the bed, playing
Their third album, the one

That kinda flopped, relatively
Speaking.

It was playing “Holler” softly, but
The music wasn’t “Holler”, it was
Something else, in that dream-like way.

And I started mentally calculating whether
My dad had left for work-- this must
Be from where he went out of

Town, for a week at a
Time, and I decided yes, he must be
Gone, so I cranked up the

Music, just as the second track came
On, and it really was the second track, and I
Thought, ‘This will totally be a big

Hit, if they promote it right”

(Which they totally will)--

And then I looked up at them on the bed and
I said: “Hey, ain’t you guys totally glad it’s
Finally 2001!”-- Like, haha, because it’s really

2010, irony right, we’re all on a little
Flash to the past here, and I thought:
God, that’s so stupid to say, and then

My glasses completely fogged over, but
Lighted up at the same time, as though someone
Were shining a bright light at me

Just as they fogged up, and it seemed
I could see a bunch of scratches on the lens
That weren’t there before-- but

Emma Bunton just smiled at me

As if I weren’t the biggest dork in the universe, and
Victoria didn’t say anything cutting, so I
Guess I didn’t totally just ruin everything.

And I scooped up a couple of books to take
When I joined them on the bed, and one of
Them was a Bible; and I thought,

‘Do I really want to read the Bible in front
Of the Spice Girls?’

That felt like another faux-pas in the
Offing, not to mention a waste
Of a pretty rare social opportunity;

Even though I was just
Reading it for literature, probably
To compare a Psalm to Shakespeare.

Oh well. But the music was booming
And the Spice Girls were waiting
To be entertained by me

And it seemed a good time would be had by
All. But then I awoke, alone and quite without
Pop stars for company.

And still I feel this lingering need to jam,
Cause “People of the world,” “I’m giving you
Everything”-- and even now I can still rock

My booty hard to that second track.