Dream catcher

1.

You have always been a dreamer.
When you were little,
you started out to catch a butterfly
scarlet and violet and vivid yellow in color.
In your dreams, the butterfly carried you on its back
over the mountains, onto the green steppe,
where you fought bandits clad in black,
to free your knight in shining armor.

When you grew up,
you dreamt still.
But sometimes you were the one captured
and no one came for a rescue
and sometimes you sold your soul
to become one of the soulless marauders.

When I met you,
your heart was white but dreams were black,
bleaker than when Satan forces you to a lifetime of servitude.

I heard the urge in your voice.
I felt for the soft hopes that is your heart
and your eyes pleaded unknowingly.

I am the talisman.
I wear the shining armor.
And I will be your dream catcher.

2.

Springs later,
you sat in your cot,
exhausted from unimaginative sleep,
tired for lack of fancy,
longing for a dream that would take you
far away.

Your eyes looked at me accusingly.
I knew, I would have to bear the burden
of accusations and of failure,
for you were ready for a flight.

You pleaded unknowingly,
same notes and same melody
as on our first moon,
but this time to be let go.

You wished for a dream,
you wished for a break,
and you wished to start anew.

The butterfly came with soaring wings,
scarlet and violet and vivid yellow in color.

I saw you take flight and wondered,
I am the talisman,
I wear the rusty armor;
and with you gone, whose dreams will I catch?