This is a bizarre dream I had last night. Tried to hammer it into a poem.
—
Dream
Grains
swirl counterclockwise
inside
a vast oblong arena—
more a barn—
wooden beams above.
I swim within these grains, bits
of consciousness,
then will them
to cascade,
titrate into reality:
stairs and passageways,
neighborhood streets,
conversations on summer nights,
all close at hand
and tied to other souls.
I shuffle scenes
one after the other,
unsure whether seeking perfection
or staying ahead
of shadowed dread.
Poemblaze Blog 
one of my faves of yours. love the peaceful feeling it gives me. thanks!!
xo
Ominous, a bit, but muffled in that weird dream state where you aren’t exactly sure why. Yet you seem in control, quite godlike in fact. Neat. My poem this week also from a dream–an actual song, actually sung to me in my brain–very real and freaky.
I love that this came from a dream Matt 🙂 Very nice.
Liking the imigary of titrating into reality, as if trying to find a median point somewhere in life. Excellent writing Matt x
Wow- love it! Had odd dream last night to0- I was ethereal and part of a universal subconsciousness – and “always other souls”…
great work at sharing the elusive dream world
Hi Matt,
Nice One Shot!
Titrate: love that word.
“A vast oblong arena,” oh, yum.
Such lovely use of imagery, it had dream written all over it. IMHO, a hard thing to pull off.
Hat’s off, master poet.
~xo
Freud might have a field day with this, I don’t know. It could be interpreted that way, but that wasn’t the feel of the dream itself.
Thanks all for your comments. Is always interesting to see what does and doesn’t work for other folks.
Hey Matt. I love it. It is interesting that we all get something different from this poem. One person said it was calming. Not for me. My dreams are almost always about searching. The last stanza hits home for me – being unsure of what you’re doing or seeking. That feeling sticks in my gut.
Thanks. The best I can come up with is that the dream and poem are metaphors for the writing life.
Matt, not only do I envy your ability to express your dream in images, your images in words, but even more, I envy your ability to dream. Thank you for sharing that with me.
You describe the dream-like scene well — part dream, part something else, perhaps a bit darker. That swimming in the grain is an arresting idea. Well done, Matt,
sounds like a rather intense dream…nice imagery…i can see it…i hope i dont dream it tonight though…
Wow this is excellent. Just excellent. The last two stanzas blew me away. Had to read it several times just for the pleasure of it. Very well done.
An unexpected poem, I enjoyed it very much, especially the tight ending,
“or staying ahead
of shadowed dread.”
Good work here! (and thanks for following me on Twitter)
That last stanza is compelling and sets the stage for the ultimate question.
I wonder if God has ever felt he/she had to “stay ahead of a shadowed dread”.
Good one.
Absolutely stunning – wow – I love this one! The last stanza is just so perfect – brilliant writing Matt.
i shuffle scenes…this sounds familiar – like how you captured your dream with the words…not easy at all..
Flowing with dreams
into reality…
“Shadowed dread”….boy, that is a haunter.
Dreams are quite the poetry material. This one has a visual and metaphorical flow….and is stunning.
Good work, Matt.
Lady Nyo
That must have been quite some dream. lol
Excellent poem
I smell fear here .. trying to stay ahead .. always a sign of running from the past .. Well thats what i thought ..
A nice read though ..
Love this one. I still haven’t had the nerve to post one yet on oneshotwednesday. Nothing ever gets finished enough. 😦 Keep up the good work as it inspires us all.
Entanglement invades the dreamscape. I can see you swimming through individual tiny worlds, fearing collision! Surreal and dreamlike imagery present your vision perfectly. Guess maybe the words had a fair bit to do with it as well. 🙂
Good images, good flow = solid work.
Thanks all for your comments and “likes”.
“neighborhood streets,
conversations on summers nights.”
I remember living this…whose to say we can’t again.
Nice wandering reminiscence.
This has that lovely surreal shifting quality of a dream. Well done.
But two things amaze me: that you could remember the dream enough to capture it so perfectly in a poem, and that it didn’t end with “Oh, no, I’m NAKED!”
Thank you for coming by my blog and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.
Nice. Makes me think poetry best vehicle for reporting dreams, makes me feel I’m not on solid ground
Yes I felt your mind trying to make order out of swirling grains, tortured souls, midnight confessions, and wires connecting you to all as they cascade away. Well done.
Thanks, Gay
Ooh now this is interesting Matt. I have a poet friend who is doing an online writing course at the moment and they’re looking at how to use dreams to create poetry.
I see the grains here as tiny particles of thought. I think you could expand on this idea, have them swirling in a shaft of sunlight, the sunlight representing realisation, or perhaps having the grains fall to the ground and compact like an idea. Just thinking out loud here but I like it when poetry has that effect on me.
‘shuffle scenes’ is a great description of how we seem to be able to hyperjump when dreaming.
Cool one shot!
I enjoyed it very much.. and your words in the end made me relate to the post very much…
‘I shuffle scenes
one after the other,
unsure whether seeking perfection’
Thanks for sharing…
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com/2011/03/whispers-winter-dew.html
Twitter @VerseEveryDay