THE FIRST STEP (photo) & PATROLING (dream narrative) by Roswila

PATROLING

even while dreaming I recognize
this setting as one more version
of a recurring one in my dreams:
a large building, mall like, white, airy,
and sunny, maybe bigger than in any other

and I note another recurring element:
I don't know my way around, can't find
the elevators even, to make my way
to the upper floor

this time, however, I wander out
of the side of the structure to the back,
an unusual move for this recurring scenario,
and find a water scene, a sort of harbor
that makes me smile and tempts me to linger

but I turn to clamber back up the little hill
to get back to the building and can't make
it up the mound of earth, recalling
with a verbal "tsk" that this, too,
has happened many times before
in dreams

however, this time, there's a small
cut down area, like a cut away curb
for wheelchairs, on the left
with a step-like rock at it's base
and so I'm able to hobble up

back in the huge building I head
for a church-like space within it
and wander through the small store
in its atrium, until I'm drawn
intensely to a display
of small, stained glass pictures

as soon as I stop in front of them
to more thoroughly appreciate
the constantly changing stories
each one tells, small dark things start
flying directly at them, colliding with
and nearly breaking one particularly
beautiful piece of stained glass

even as I sigh with relief that the art
has survived the assault, I find myself
waiting to cross a wide boulevard,
looking toward the traffic sounds,
off to my left down the several lanes
that look like parallel rivers

the sounds come from more dark
things, but this time humongous, and like
fighter planes in formation they fly low
over the lanes as if on patrol

their noise hurts my ears to the point
of wincing and tears, but it's the only
damage from their passing
for they are headed elsewhere
to take care of crucial business,
about which outsiders know nothing


[narrative on a dream of 10-15-16. Yep, a long one and I even left out a good sized section as I couldn't make it "work" within the narrative as a whole. It's also possible it was a separate dream altogether and recall jumbled it together with what appears above. After all, it was clearly a very busy night. (Unusual for a full moon night, as my recall usually goes way down at this time.) I may draft the section I left out as a separate piece later. And, yes, I was vaguely lucid (aware I was dreaming, as I was dreaming) in the first half of this dream. An odd sort of lucidity that I've had before: referencing other dreams from other nights. Photo "The First Step" (10-15-16 011v2) 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), 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,

[a/k/a 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 other blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.