Of food and dreams

One fine day I learnt that
you never really eat in dreams
You might dream a lot of food
but then you are usually
either thinking of it
or seeing it or smelling it
or about to eat it

and sometimes,
you may have already eaten it

but no, you never actually
taste or chew or swallow
the food in your dreams

and then i went frantic
thinking back to all the food dreams
and yes, it was true
juicy, fact berries
i remember handing them to a friend
heavenly bakeries
i remember smelling them

and then i was frantic again
wondering why even in dreams
i should be longing
but not fulfilled

but then of course,
you dream these dreams
because you long
because food is everything
that is good in life
that is missing, that you want
that is warm, that is filling

you dream these dreams
because you yearn

and if you were already fulfilled
you would not
dream these dreams in the first place