I fell asleep on the bus again,
Or maybe I dreamt I fell
Asleep on the bus.
When I woke
The sky was lavender,
And my hands were cold.
I gathered my things–
Apparently I had shopped–
And maneuvered past
The octopus of legs spread
Across the floor.
These buildings were familiar,
Yet stood asymmetrically
On streets with strange names,
As if a child had flung
All the parts to a game
Haphazardly across a board.
I asked a man for our address,
But he stared uncomfortably.
My words made no sense;
They scattered like coins.
My bag grew too heavy–
I stopped and peeked in.
There were luscious red fruits
That smelled of ripe flesh,
Orchids, and death. Spiders
Danced on their mottled skin.
I left the bag on a bench:
My burdens, my sins.
Soon after, I turned a corner
And found our house, perfect
And clean, but you were gone.
I lay down on our bed,
Falling,
Falling into
A dreamless sleep.
~*~
What Do You See? (Sadje’s #24)
Image from Pexels.
A friend in a poetry workshop shared this challenge with me from a few weeks ago: write a poem with only one fantastical element. “Dreamless” is my response. The one element of magical realism is the image of familiar houses placed crookedly on streets with strange names.
©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon
I am not into reading poetry these days but this was so interesting I couldn’t stop until I had finished.
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Thank you!
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Wow Paula, you have captured the surreal aspects of dreams so well. Thanks for participating in the prompt.
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Thanks so much!
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Welcome
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You are deeply familiar with public transportation, I see. “Octopus of legs” is the most perfect image of sprawling passengers I have ever read! ❤
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Oh yes. I used to take the bus every day in Chicago! Thank you 😍
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Pingback: Sharing responses to the prompt What do you see; Chris Hall-Together we are strong, Eugenia- The long way home and Paula- Dreamless – Keep it alive
WP tried to hide this poem from me but I’m on to their tricks!
I love the imagery and uncertainty! Wow!🤩😻
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Thanks! Bad WP, bad 😱
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Wonderful. You really captured that disorientation of the familiar in a dream well.
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Thank you ❤️
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Very nicely done 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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Pingback: What do you see # 24- A round up – Keep it alive
There’s definitely a feeling of disorientation here. Good poem, Paula!
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Thank you ❤️
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You are welcome!
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