DREAM

Long Ago and Far Away

My wife Melanie met a Chinese Psychic

At a Conference in San Francisco

The Woman's name was

Anna Bella Marie Chang

And her friends called her Chang Bella

 

Chang Bella had short black hair

Ruby lips and translucent skin

Her father was from an old Hong Kong

Family and her mother was from California

 

Melanie and Chang Bella enjoyed each

Others company and spoke of ancient

Herbalists and read Chinese tealeaves

Together in the lobby of the

Sir Francis Drake Hotel

 

Chang Bella remarked that Melanie had

A rainbow glint in her eyes

And that Melanie should remember

Her in the future as

Chang Bella could be counted on

 

As my wife and her new friend Chang

Left the conference on a rainy Sunday

Afternoon and just as they were leaving and

Standing in front of the hotel Chang Bella began

Someday I will be of great assistance

To you and your family as we meet again

Then she left in a yellow checker cab

 

Days turned into weeks and months

Into Years and then late in August of

This year Melanie and I traveled to New York

For business and were staying in the City

At the Chelsea Hotel.

 

One very hot and humid night all of

The lights in the city went out, taxis stopped

mid - fare and buses came to a halt

TVs went blank and the Internet was no

Longer connected

 

 

 

Panic ensued in the streets of New York

Hordes of people crowded into stairwells and

Strangers began to push and strain against each

Other making their way down to the street from

Their now walkup apartments as

The elevators had gone still

 

There were screams of mayhem as New Yorkers

And visitors alike clamored about trying to

Make sense of what was going on

"Is this the end," people shouted

"I can't believe this!"

 

As the night wore on and daybreak began

The panic began to settle

Down as those who could began to seek passage

Out of the city and those who could not

Began to settle for enough water to make it through

A few more days A few more days hopefully so

An answer could be found

 

The media was completely blacked out and the

Only way to get word around the city was for

People to talk to each other

Stories were told of a complete breakdown of the

Economy there was no more money to be passed

Between buyer and seller

The money was gone

 

People were streaming down the streets of New York

Going around the stranded cars, taxis and buses

People were just walking everywhere they could looking

For answers "How can we leave this place?"  

"How can I get a drink of water?"

 

There were whispers of places to go to seek passage

Out of the city

There was a man in Harlem who could help and

A lady in Brooklyn had connections

Melanie heard of a woman in China Town who

Worked out of a old movie theatre and

Could make things happen so we decided to try

This China Town connection

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to China Town Melanie decided that she

Couldn't take the walk downtown in the suffocating

Heat so I walked her back to the Chelsea Hotel and then

Set out again for China Town.

 

Back in the crowd of people looking for a way out,

A way to find something to drink or eat

I felt the strange sensation that everyone was everyman

None of us had any money there were no more jobs

And if you carried a Gucci bag or a plastic bag

There was no distinction

 

I was on my way to this abandoned movie theatre in

China town and all I had been told was that the theatre

Was on a busy street corner and that there would

Be hundreds of people milling around outside of it

I kept walking in the heat and the humidity desperate

To find a way out of this chaos in New York

 

After an hour or so of searching the street corners

Of China town I found the theatre

It was called the Sleeping Dragon Theatre and

It seemed the Dragon had been asleep for some time

The place was boarded up and the doors were barely

Hanging on their hinges

 

The rumors were right about the hundreds of people

Milling around outside the Sleeping Dragon

People were everywhere trying to convince the bouncers

Outside the theatre that they were the right people to

Let inside It seems there was a selective process to

Allow people audience with those who could help

 

I had not considered that I would have to go through

A screening process in order to meet with someone

Who could help Melanie and I find passage out of

New York and out of this strange collapse of the Economy

I stood confused near the entrance pondering what

My next move would be when a bouncer came up to me

And asked me to follow him inside

 

 

 

 

I was dumbfounded as there were hundreds of people

Out side the theatre pleading for entrance so I said to

The bouncer why are you showing me in while so many

Others are waiting outside

He said you will see let the day unfold

 

I followed the bouncer into the theatre and then walked

Down towards the stage following his instructions

There were about 50 people standing near the darkened

Stage and they spoke in many languages mostly

Chinese and Japanese but there were some Slavic

Languages being spoken as well with just a little bit of

English and French around the edges of the crowd

 

We were all waiting for the Person Who Could Help

To come out onto the stage it was as if we were

Waiting for our tour guide to emerge from behind

The ancient velvet curtains that were hanging on the stage

 

After another ten minutes the curtains were pulled back

And a stately woman walked out onto the stage her

Hair was black and her skin was translucent her ruby lips

Moved slowly and her eyes locked on me as I stood

Below the stage

She was wearing a rose flowered dress that shined

In the darkness of the theatre

 

It was Anna Bella Maria Chang I had only seen

Pictures of her but I knew instinctively who she was

She came over to me and said I had a rainbow glint

In my eyes and asked me where Melanie was

I told her Melanie was suffering from the heat and

Was back at the hotel

 

Chang Bella told me that she would meet Melanie and

I at the Chelsea Hotel in one hour and she would arrange

Passage for us out of New York

She told me to hurry and be ready to leave the city

In just one hour

 

I fled the theatre and started walking back to the hotel

As fast as I could go how crazy it was that

Chang Bella would be the one to release us

From this madness

 

It was tortuous to work my way back to the hotel

As panic was starting to roil the city again

Nightfall was coming and there was no power and

No food in the stores New Yorkers were going to

Have to learn to hunt and gather again Central

Park would become a place to pick berries and

Stalk game the best hunters would begin to dominate

Those who couldn't adapt those who relied on

Take out would be left to ruin

 

I finally trudged back to the hotel and told

Melanie what had happened and she cried tears

Of joy that it was Chang Bella who would save

Us from this craziness in New York

How do these things happen she kept saying

While I madly threw our clothes and belongings into

The suitcases

 

In just one hour a black Mercedes pulled up to the

Front of the Hotel and Chang Bella was sitting

In the back seat and she smiled and hugged

Melanie tightly I will take you back to Ann Arbor

Where you will be safe while the world falls

Apart and comes back together again

The way the world works will be different from

Now on but it will take years for all of this to be

Sorted out I will take you back to Ann Arbor

Where you will be safe and be able to eat

 

All the way back to Ann Arbor Chang Bella and

Melanie read Chinese tea leaves and discussed

Great healers while I sat near the door and

Watched while the world went by

 

Charles Grimes

Ann Arbor  August 2010