The German word for dream is traume.

The coal-dust hushed parameters of the room. Outside, my mother stitched whole dresses for $3.00 a piece. I slept in a bedroom which faced the street. A cheerleader was killed in a drive-by that year. She died in her sleep. I watched the headlights sweep overhead. * It felt like skin. It did not feel obscene. When that boy tongue-kissed me and wiped his mouth, it was a coming into knowledge. * When my mother whispered, Has anyone touched you there? I had to pick. Alan, I said. I was seven. The training wheels were coming off. Between the couch and wall, the ceiling was white with popcorn bits. The boys stood and watched. I lay there, my eyes open like a doll’s. Someone said,Let me try. He pulled down his pants and rode on top, then abruptly stopped. The boys laughed, said Shhh and stood me up.