The Dream

[shanmonster]

I'm in a gaily appointed brothel. It has all the requisite red fabrics, velvet wallpapers, and gilded mirrors. Neil Diamond is wearing a grey pinstripe suit with a pink cravat and a black bowler hat. I'm seated on an elegant but uncomfortable chair. A man dances a la Fred Astaire, flirting with himself in the mirrors, stopping on occasion to kiss and canoodle with his reflection. Two lesbians, dressed like highclass Victorian courtesans, keep climbing the stairwell and sliding down the bannister while kissing. A very overweight man in a porkpie hat spoons with an equally chubby woman. And all the while, Neil Diamond sings a song with a melody similar to "Sweet Caroline" which includes the words "Your love lifts me high, your love brings me low. But you're the one for me. This much I know."