A California Street

I had a vivid dream at nine,
living by the California coast,
walking down a wide street,
past palm trees and Spanish-style houses.
I marveled at the warmth of the sun,
the clearness of the turquoise sea
and how beautiful the birds-of-paradise were.

Then I woke from the dream
and walked a broken path to school
down a narrow, tree-less North Philly street
with brick homes and abandoned cars on either side.
The sky was cloudy.
The air was stale.
Only the faint breeze coming from the Delaware
reminded me of the Pacific.

Mark Tulin is a former mental health therapist from Philadelphia who lives in Santa Barbara, California.  He has a poetry chapbook, Magical Yogis, published by Prolific Press, and two upcoming books: Awkward Grace (Poetry), and The Asthmatic Kid and Other Stories. His stories and poetry have appeared in Fiction on the Web, Ariel Chart, Amethyst Magazine, The Writing Disorder, among anthologies and podcasts.  His website is Crow On The Wire.