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1. Dreams R Us Division

Too busy to sleep?

No problem!

You begin a dream,

and the dream sensor

starts the dream deactivator,

which wakes you with a mild electric shock

equivalent in effect

to two cups of coffee.

Meanwhile, the incipient dream

is transferred and stored

in the company mainframe.

There, the dream completer software

massages the story line

and develops alternate dreamlines.

When it's convenient,

you can select whichever variant suits you,

and, when the market slows

or you are longing for a respite,

the dream of your choice

will be returned to you, fully realized,

to enjoy at your leisure.

For the busy man or woman,

it's almost a dream come true.

2. Nightmare Outlet

In this branch of the greater dream factory,

the wages are lower,

the workers disgruntled,

and an inspector from the dream division

constantly intrudes to insure

that the output is defective.

Here, on a creeping assembly line,

the factory seconds pass for hours.

It's not really good news,

or a relief,

that this division's products

are almost always recalled.




Duane Ackerson's poetry has appeared in Rolling Stone, Yankee, Prairie Schooner, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Cloudbank, alba, Starline, Dreams & Nightmares, and several hundred other places. He has won two Rhysling awards and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He lives in Salem, Oregon. You can find more of his work in our archives.
Current Issue
17 Mar 2025

Strange Horizons will have three open fiction submissions throughout 2025.
In this whole ocean, not a single reply.
We are men making machines, making men.
The customer shakes me until his disc drops into the bin below. Please take your receipt, sir. He kicks me in the side and says, “Thanks for nothing, you piece of shit vending machine!”
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