Dream within a Dream

The softest rays of the fading sun
warm my face one last time this night.
and with the curtains,
i close them away for the time being.
sleep begins to close about this worn body,
and the mind begins to sway to and fro,
as a ship on the sea.
Heavy eyelids close,
and i drift out of this world
in one last flutter of my eyelids.
Peaceful waves of comfort glide across my mind
as I leave this painful world behind.
here, though, is something more...
a soft awakening into another world...
drifting onward, i find myself farther than before.
more than joy, more than peace,
it is something else,
like an infinite, unlimited love for the world.
all the joy in the world surrounded me,
and hope that I have long since abandoned returned to me.
No greater beauty have i seen than this heavenly abode,
for eternity, it seemed, I drifted on,
absorbing the blessed happiness
that i had been gifted enough to discover.
This is what is meant for me... if only i could remain.
My life, though, has yet to be lived to the fullest.
Maybe, when the last breathe escapes these aged lips,
I will find myself there again...
but for now, I sit up in the silence of my rooms,
and reflect on all that i had seen,
in the simple beauty of a dream within a dream.