There is a breakdown in things

There is a breakdown in things
that works slowly,
eating away everything.

It isn't the fault of something
outside, nor is it the fault
of the things themselves.

It happens the way a dream
happens to wear away:
not because of anything in particular;

You rise and there is something
about the dream on your pillow,
but we quickly move on from the pillow.

Last night's dream had something
to do with a child
who grew up rapidly.

The child defeats the baby,
the teenager laughs at the child's things,
the adult forgets the child.

The child becomes a dream
where everything is following
a course into oblivion.

Poetry and dreaming, vision
pertaining to the species:
these become easy jokes over drinks.

Such is the breakdown in things:
it happens softly, like dreams;
it goes largely unnoticed.