Monday, January 2, 2012

A Night of Restless Dreams


A Night of Restless Dreams

I was returned to high school but suddenly
And as a surprise
To my aged and retired self.

But now I had to drive to John Marshall
When I got the word
I had been transferred to another school

This time I had to look up the name on the internet
For both Kathy and me
Who had graduated in the nineteen sixties

I had to get onto a roaring super highway
And let GPS
Tell me the location amidst highway carnage

And then the dream changed to one of you
But well and happy
Walking with a young lady heavy with your child

You were your same age, but hair short
And in ironed shirt
A beautiful smile, glowing with prosperity

While I was the one now newly lost
But in a subway
That was a puzzling labyrinth of tunnels

And I was struggling to be happy for you
And both your babies
The woman and your incipient child

Jealousy stripped me of any thought of joy
Why wasn’t it me?
Why did the she look so right by your side?

I awoke to our plodding realities of loss
Me of youth and work
You of nearly everything that life can offer.

Let my dream come true that you have everything
I need nothing more
Than to see your children running to your arms.

2 comments:

  1. this also from a dream- (i'm 70) lotsa dreams abt high school (prep in my case) and college- i think our brains changed around then- they keep returning to that spot
    Homage to Horror Movie: “The Ring”

    After my dreams, I'm grateful for the light of day.
    Double space
    It gives solutions to problems of the night.
    I hope death will not be an end, just some sort of night.

    A burning tree .... I guess I understand. I pray
    The demon girl will not come out of my tv today.
    (The ladder then- this also seems to do with night).

    Why? Why? would they hurt a child in this way?!?
    And why a light house with its "tell" and "tell" tolls,
    As if singing, like an evil bell....

    The horse pushed off a boat ?
    My dreams are seldom happy, they're in a sour way-
    "You'll have to die", but I wake every day!!!!

    I'm happy to be alive- take just last night:
    I dreamt of descent, down and down a well,
    But by the day I'd clambered towards the light-
    A glorious spider creature, I woke to bright light!

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  2. What a wonderful poem, David! It is so good to write it down immediately and keep it. And somehow, we do wake up every day. Sometimes, it makes us more eager. Thank you so much!

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