Jim Daniels’ most recent books are Show and Tell: New and Selected Poems (University of Wisconsin Press), and Detroit Tales (short fiction), both published in 2003 (Michigan State University Press). He is the Thomas S. Baker Professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University. The Land of 3,000 Dreams Jim Daniels They say if you just strap weights around your ankles and wrists and carry on                    you will be stronger. They say if you just strap weights to your earlobes and testicles you will hear                    your true love call your name. They say if you just carry a coffin above your head every day of your life animals will love you                               and you will accept death. They say if you just wear a cast-iron hat and tip it to your enemies you will learn forgiveness                                         or vengeance. They say if you strap on a lead belt and listen to Chubby Checker records you will fuck                    with dignity. They say if you fill your mouth with gold and chew raw meat like bubble gum you will be both seen                                and heard. They say if you replace your hair with steel rods and comb it with a garden rake                             it won’t blow in the wind. They say if you bench press a small automobile you will be crushed.                              They say there are limits to what weights can do.                        They say the weight of the heart minus the weight of the soul cannot be lifted.                        They say in the land of 3,000 dreams strong men and strong women                                             will have weak children from being constantly lifted from the weight of expectation from the heavy words                                 raining down on them.