For We Write Poems prompt #19 Fireflies by Owl City
http://wewritepoems.wordpress.com/
The prompt told us to take one of the lyrics from the song and use it to begin a poem. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig39-ERGypk
In A Dream
Left my door open just a crack,
you came back from long ago dream,
beautiful boy, with beautiful grin, somehow familiar.
Found me alone, in a blizzard of howling wind and snow.
Grabbed my wrist, pulled me from whatever path
I had intended. Moved in different direction
toward another way of knowing. Dragged my feet
in protest, and although I woke myself by saying, “No, no, no,”
I followed.
Elizabeth Crawford 9/15/10
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This is an interesting and enigmatic poem… Sometimes in life, as in dreams, one finds oneself pulled in a different direction than one was traveling. Sometimes it is for the best….sometimes not. Well written!
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Thank you Mary, I wasn’t sure what to do with the prompt. Tried several things, then had the dream last night and went with it. Maybe more to mark its message than anything else.
Elizabeth
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Dragged my feet
in protest, and although I woke myself by saying, “No, no, no,”
I followed.
Powerful last line.
Linda
Thank you Linda, I like working with dreams and this one had a great deal of meaning for me, because of the individual involved.
Elizabeth
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Dreams can be the strangest things. I can rarely remember! Clearly, despite your reluctance the new path was sufficiently intriguing.
Derrick, yes it is and also a bit scary as well. Thanks for stopping and commenting, I like the dance you created with the prompt.
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth a very intriguing poem!
Dreams hold so many different meanings.
Pamela
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Pamela, that’s one of the reasons I have always been interested in my dreams. They do hold messages for the dreamer, if one wants to take the time to unravel them. Thanks for reading and leaving a comment,
Elizabeth
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There is such a thin line dividing dream and reality. Did you take the path or not? Was recall of the dream close to taking the path? So many queries life holds for us, your poem captures them. Thanks for this poem Elizabeth.
Uma, the dream was so clear and vivid, and although I did go back to sleep, it moved through the rest of my night, making associations, and pulling other images, as well as words. I believe it is still making its way to the surface and the poem, as I said earlier, was simply a way to mark it for current and later relection. Dreams have so many layers and they often take time to reveal themselves if one pays attention,
Elizabeth
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Love how the opening line shows the speaker of the poem is open to a change but then the unsettlement of change which is resisted (No. No. No.) yet the poem, for me, speaks well that we are at times dragged into making a change, especially, for me, changes which require rethinking my way of knowing/perception. Really enjoyed this exploration of change..
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Happy flower, you make a very valid point. I was aware of the directions within the dream imagery and they were a message about coming change, espeially about long held emotional issues. Changes in perception are never easy but certainly worth the work entailed. Thanks for the comments, they helped a lot,
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth, I like the way you incorporated your dream into your poem for this prompt. It sounds like a a meaningful dream, one in which you changed the direction you were heading. Makes me think that many of us probably do this a number of times in life. Well expressed.
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Diane, I had actually done two other pieces and was already to post them, before the dream appeared and spoke volumes to me. Changes always incorparate letting go and that is not an easy process. But, because the dream was so clear and vivid, I knew it was important. Started playing with it in my journal pages when I awoke and scrapped the other pieces in preference for this one. Glad I did. Thanks for your comments, and I recently had an encounter with an entire flock of little birds and moving wings. Unbelievable choreography of movement.
Elizabeth
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Hi Elizabeth, I like the “grabbing” and “dragging”, physically endearing. I think this is sweetly succinct of the only true mantra, follow your heart.
Lol, Irene, I just read a post that explores Jungian theory and it was about how falling in love, following your heart, is actually an emotional reaction to a deeper psychological complex. That things that grab and drag us off into unknown territory do so because they push our inner buttons that have not been confronted or satisfied in some significant manner.
The beautiful boy in this dream, actually came in another dream, many years ago. He told me his name was Chaos, and he was so right, the chaos of feelings when we fall in love with anything. Which only means I understand the ‘no,no, no,’ far better than the following, lol.
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth, I rather think dreams like what some attribute to god, nothing will be given that you cannot handle in your experience with life. And like a play on a stage, it’s not so much the actors masks that matter, as the emotional process of movement underneath. As here in this poem your last line stood apart from the rest, that transition line, sleeping dreams to awake (reflected too as by your choice, taking this dream poem over others already writ)… following, as you said.
That I think is the contribution this poem makes, starting even with the first lyric line chosen here, “my door open just a crack”, and as good as a mile one might say. This suggests the choice to come, and of course, it does.
Like I oft feel about poems, some that come tap tap tapping at the door. And while any one poem may not reveal or say it all, yet they introduce (like does a dream) and engage process towards more. And that is both poetic and literal.
(And nothing is so well hidden as in plain view?) ~Neil
Oh Neil, do you have any idea of what you’ve done? I have always had very vivid dreams, easily recalled upon awakening. However, over these past years as I have been engaged in caring for my Mom, trudging through a routine, I chose but didn’t necessarily ‘rush’ to with full enjoyment, the dreams have diminished a great deal, both in clarity and in recall. I was aware of that and even understand that was because my emotions were engaged but kept somewhat contained.
The other two poems were about the whole process of dreaming and how that develops through the sleep cycle, lol, a far more removed perspective from this poem which directly engaged in self-created dream material. I have always enjoyed exploring dreams because they are the purest symbolic language we own. So you are absolutely right. The first two poems were softening me up for the real stuff.
Thanks my friend,
Elizabeth
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Sometimes following feels easier. I wish we did not resist. But we do and always will. Maybe it is inherent in us to against the grain. I don’t know.
Your poetry makes me think as always.
warming up the worms
BTW, if you are interested, you can click on my name to reach my book blog. Yes, I got one of that too!
😀
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Gautami, I think that some of us are formed to resist, others just accept. I usually don’t mind my rebel nature, but there are times when it causes me confusion as well as trouble, lol. But then, I really do think that individuals who activate their creative energies have to possess that resisting gene. They wouldn’t or couldn’t partake in those energies otherwise. And I will definitely take a look at your book blog. Thanks for letting me know,
Elizabeth
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Your poem reminds me of something a friend once said to me, “God will get you through it, if you can stand the pull.” A beautiful meaningful dream. Thanks for sharing with us.
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Thank you shewriting, and I agree that the dream had layers of meaning. Some I didn’t realize until reading many of these comments. But then, that is some of the reason for sharing, isn’t it?
Elizabeth
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