City Block

Composed 9/29/16
Description: It’s been awhile, but the words still jump out at me, especially now that autumn calls!

When cigarette and coffee smoke
Are dancing in the air
When schools of people swarm around
Like you’re not even there
When police patrols and flashing lights
Set hearts a-pounding, scared
When hot asphalt, manicured grass
The cool breeze makes aware
It’s then you pull your jacket tight
Walk like a queen and dare

It’s like something could happen
And even if it never does
You still have now begun the dream
And you still feel it
There
On your skin

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A Look Back

Composed 5/10/16
Description: For Writing 101, Day 4’s theme was “journey,” and it was also suggested that we use a simile. The following piece came from something I was thinking about writing about anyway, and I made it work. I think it fit quite well.

Last night I journeyed into a dream
It took me down paths I’ve sworn to abandon
A fictitious past sweetened and warm
A moment like toffee
That I gulped and discarded

Earlier on this road I am on
I would have savored seconds
Wrote long lines to reminisce and
Examined every scene
But older and further along as I am
I know now it’s naïve to dream

So I write this quickly and put it behind me
Because it will never be real to me

Sunshine Dream

Composed 4/18/16
Description: For Day 17 of NaPoWriMo. Obviously… I’m not yet used to warm weather.

I woke up today to a blinding dream
Even the grass sings sunshine songs
The air is light and pale and fresh
As the outside breathes into the room
My skin feels new as if
Pleasure has just caressed my cheeks
People chatter and birds softly sing
A drowsy, pure reality
I’m numb with the glee, indeed
This must be a dream

Origin Story

Composed 12/22/15
Description: My dream last night.

A skinny tree
His branches stick out like a mushroom hairdo
He stands in line
Orders a coffee
Vanilla latte with my vanilla beans
He shakes his hair and they rain down
Falling seeds
The kiosk owner hesitates
Shakes her head in ignorance
But I pop up with some how-to knowledge
And a potion book

It takes an hour or so
To gather needed supplies
I explore the lush green valleys
And with pestle and pot
The tree’s latte arrives

Unknown, am I
Until that moment
Impressed, my fellow magic folk

Word spreads throughout the inn
My prestige grows as
Power is gained
As discover, I, my place here
A wild white wolf
Is suddenly tamed

A friend, a familiar
Bonds with me
Witch, potion maker

Dreaming of Freedom

Composed 12/5/13
Description: This was originally composed for wdbwp’s poetry prompt Dream States. This prompt told us to pay attention to our dreams that week and to compose a poem based on what we remember. Though I composed this piece on time, I am horribly, horribly late in posting it. (Thank you, college.) Nonetheless, I was impressed by the imagery and symbolism my dream contained.

I think this dream says much about my current attitude toward romantic relationships.  I have recently been noting how draining  romantic relationships are.  Honestly, being single is just so much easier.  There’s not as much emotional strain — you don’t have the stress of wondering if he’s “the one” or if you’re doing things right — and you don’t have the time commitment! Your life is just so much more flexible.

Though I think this poem contains a deeper element as well, perhaps illustrating how I view my romantic past, the decisions I’ve made, and how I’ve coped.

He holds out a contract to sign
Marry me he says
Robot body guards hold me in place
And I almost consent

But flashbacks bring reality
And I crash my fist
Into the robot’s glass head
And wrap my fingers around the crucial chip
Ripping it free

The robot crumbles
And I flee in the chaos

I load up my escape pod
And use the chip to power up
Launch
And out into space I fly
Smiling
Truly smiling
For the first time in awhile

And I land
On a planet of Japanese gardens
And polished wood bathhouse floors
And I rest
Satisfied
In the beauty of sunshine
Peering in
Through sliding screen doors

A Perfect Night

Composed: 7/14/13
Description: A dream from a few weeks ago.

Utter bliss hardly succeeds in describing the feeling.

I am running, bolting it — my arms straight out, ready for flight. I am screaming in pure ecstasy as I run, like I am on the world’s most gloriously terrifying rollercoaster.

I run through a snow covered forest in the morning light. The slender, icy branches and distant, snowy hills possess the kind of raw beauty reserved for fairytales and Planet Earth specials.

There is music playing – a song I’ve never heard. It probably does not exist. I’m not sure where it is coming from since it seems to fill the air in every direction.

I break from the trees into an endless, white clearing. Suddenly I remember that I am not alone. Another runs with me, several feet away; though, like me, he has been preoccupied with his own bliss and hasn’t recalled my presence until this moment. Not losing a stride, we glance at each other – both smiling, a certain gleam in our eyes. We know that, for both of us, this has been the best moment of our lives.

We join together, laughing, racing in the narrow hallway between an impossibly tall snow-covered wall and a line of snow piled atop large boulders. We laugh, our jaunt finally reaching an end as we jump into the somehow fluffy snow piles. We breathe heavily, but we are not tired.

The scene cuts, but I reemerge not but a few minutes later. There is another with us now – a face well-known. A man in the guise of a hunter of demons and other evil things. He stands a respectable distance away, as if not wanting to intrude.

My face and feelings are grim now. My friend wears an expression of utter severity as well. I point to the hunter as I address my friend.

“If there is evil after us I want him with me.”

My friend seems to soften into resignation as I wake.