…only small shadows…

Dreamery #1

The scraggly disarray of an old farm yard

was the milieu,

not a real place in my memory,

but a scene I could understand.

The dream was realistic in its detail,

jumbled in its action.

I’m no farmer, I had no impulse

to harvest any dream theme,

I was there in fact.

I was a witness without a question.

I felt no urge to end it.

I had no curious thought.

In the old barn I sensed

a history in every damp corner,

an unfinished story in every heap

of debris that marked a process without progress,

in remnants of machines,

in the gear of abandoned projects

that made only small shadows

on the untidy floor.

The cowgirl and the kids who urged

their clattering horses

through this carelessly cluttered scene

were noisy,

but I couldn’t make out their words…

Outside a squad of ragtag soldiers

shambled into view,

wearing remnants of antique uniforms,

maybe they had guns,

with no fierce mien among them…

these were militia, maybe,

with no impulse to rush to battle,

no inspiration to huzzah,

no flag to die for…

Their leader was a faded heroine of dream time,

a broad-hipped fat woman

in some style of tunic,

no memorable face,

yelling for services and a campsite and supplies,

in some style of a martinet, it seemed,

but not convincing…

I sensed that there was no apparent reason

for this ersatz troop to be there,

it seemed that they wanted

to be somewhere else.

For a moment, I felt some sympathy.

July 27, 2017

Often I don’t remember my dreams. I was aware that there was no particular reason to remember this one. It was not a particular dream. This is one particular way of saying that.

My poem “Dreamery #1” was published in my second collection of 47 poems, Seeing far: Selected poems. You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle), or get it free in Kindle Unlimited, click here

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A poet is a “maker”

…and it doesn’t have to rhyme…

click here

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In other words: Poems for your eyes and ears with 64 free verse and haiku poems,

and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)

and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

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not a real place in memory…