"Living in a Nightmare" by Gabriel Brunelle

The water rose
while everyone was sleeping, silently and slowly,
and no one seemed to notice.

And they were sleeping while they were walking; and they were sleeping while they were sitting; and they were sleeping while they were working;

and the only time they seemed to be awake was when they were actually sleeping, when they were dreaming.

Only then
did the pressure of the doom produce the appropriate reaction. In their lives
they were held in distraction.

The water rose,
higher and higher,
past the ankles and the tires;
past the roses and the fences; past the doorways and the lintels.

They were sleeping in their waking, mouthing bubble words
which could not be heard
until they rose to the surface

in their dreaming subconscious AND SCREAMED!