STEP THIS WAY (photo) & BACK IN THE LAND OF THE LOST (dream narrative) by Roswila

BACK IN THE LAND OF THE LOST

my former roommate and I head home
through the maze of New York City
subway system tunnels and gates

I follow her lead as it's been a long time
since I've traversed these concrete warrens
but she gets ahead of me and though she
clearly hears me when I call after her,
she doesn't slow her pace

she seems as lost as I, but my gut says
she's also enjoying being on the loose
and surrounded by strangers
for a change, so I make no further effort
to catch up and tend instead
to my increasing need
to sit and rest my knees

as I place all the stuff I'd been carting
near me so I can keep an eye on it, a young
homeless woman approaches me, offering
me a ruffled navy sweater, shyly noting
it had been stolen from her closet
but she'd like me to have it now

I say no thank you, why don't you keep it?
and wonder how someone so mentally frail
manages life on the streets, as I shoo away
another homeless woman hovering
like a vulture behind her back

before I know it I wake
from a sudden nap on the bench
and pop up, my knee snapping at me
like an angry box turtle, and rush off
with my large shoulder bag in tow

oh no! I left my other bags behind
and turn around so fast my head swims,
politely asking the women clerical workers
sitting where I'd been snoozing if anyone
found my things, but no, they saw
nothing when they arrived

one perky worker adds
that if anything were here
it was taken to the subterranean level
then rattles off lengthy instructions
on how to get down there

sigh, I'll never find it, I think,
and shake my head in wry
amusement as I mutter out loud
"Lost & Found is lost on me"


[narrative on a dream of 2-22-14. This is a month-old dream, written about in the couple days after it was dreamed. But I kept putting off posting it as I just didn't get much from it despite how lengthy it is. Rather, none of the images have yet really resonated beyond the level of "Yes, I remember feeling that way" or "Yes, I see a parallel to the present in this section." And other dreams kept coming along in the meantime that grabbed my attention more deeply. I actually think what I've recalled of this dream was from a pre-conscious level of awareness. And that reference at the end to "the subterranean level" is where a more lively dream action might have taken place but was not recalled. I've seen the just below street level of a subway serve as a symbol for near-consciousness before in my dreams. So why post this narrative now? As the record of a dream, and I also do sort of enjoy that ending pun. BTW, I didn't actually dream that pun, but it was definitely implied in the set up and how lost I felt. In fact, I often find my capping lines to a dream poem/narrative in an association to the dream either on waking or as I'm drafting it. Photo "Step This Way" (10-15-09 7584e) by Roswila]

PLEASE NOTE: in most browsers you can click on the above image for a larger version. Also, the photo accompanying a post is not necessarily meant to illustrate it, but to reflect some small, even slant aspect of the verse, similar to Japanese haiga (illustrated haiku).

There are many other sorts of posts on this blog. I indicate which are about or influenced by dreams. Some non dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems (some by other writers, as the above is), scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006, at the end of the sidebar.

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until next time, keep dreaming,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
**** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.