Dream Inventory
The dream of the animal stuck on my head
The dream of the woman giving me the finger
The dream in which I yell to her “that’s a load of crap”
and the one where I call your name out loud
and it wakes us both up
The dream about dog trainings on how not to kill chickens
The dream about my sister giving me a dress that doesn’t fit
The dream where I walk to Roanoke wearing a kerchief in the rain
and the one where my mother says “she’s trying to claim me”
All the dreams about children left in my care
and the disabled baby in the Spring Street crib
All the dreams of being lost in unfamiliar places
and the cell phone with numbers that float like bubbles
The dream of a woman with black hair and long fingernails
who lies when she says “only good things happen to good people”
The dream where I ask another woman for directions
I believe her when she says “there are no turns”
“It’s all the same long windy road”
__________Colleen Redman
The above was inspired by Ron Lavette’s poem HERE.
March 18th, 2014 11:19 am
Lovely.
March 18th, 2014 1:43 pm
Colleen, this is my favorite of all your poems I’ve seen. Wonderful.
March 18th, 2014 1:51 pm
Colleen there is much to love here–I especially love how this inventory tells us so much about the dreamer
March 18th, 2014 2:27 pm
Lovely list, CR.
I like it all & am particularly fond of “windy road”, which left me wondering about whether there’s wind or whether the speaker’s colloquializing “winding”. Either way, a great finish to a marvelous poem.
March 18th, 2014 3:09 pm
Well, she said windy are in winding. I’ll change it to winding to avoid confusion and because that it more of the proper word, but she did say windy, as in wine-dee, because, you know, that’s the way I say it too!
March 18th, 2014 3:21 pm
No, no, no! Don’t change it. It’s a good thing. I figured it was wine-dee, but like the fact that it could be windy. It’s perfect as is! That’s exactly what language ought to do. Leave it!
March 18th, 2014 4:31 pm
This is some inventory, Colleen! At present I can only remember the people in my dreams, hardly the dreams themselves.
March 18th, 2014 4:40 pm
I love this, Colleen… the repetition in your list works really well.
March 18th, 2014 5:55 pm
I like the weaving of dreams like a list poem specially the one in the ending ~ Intriguing that there are no turns for I believe our journey is full of turns to unexpected places ~ Have a good day Colleen ~
March 18th, 2014 6:12 pm
What sister gave you a dress that didn’t fit?
It sure is a great poem!
March 18th, 2014 6:24 pm
She, I think I sent you that dream. I’ll send it again because it’s a big dream with a lot in it.
Grace, I think this winding road made turns as it wound, but it was all one road.
March 18th, 2014 8:20 pm
First, I love working with dreams and the insights that follow and poetry that turns to them for inspiration. And then the way you use anaphora to create the list poem. So good.
March 19th, 2014 6:53 am
I’m drawn to dreams. I love how you put it in poetry form.
The disabled Spring St. baby in the crib. Hmmm??? And I too was going to ask, as Sherry did, what sister sent you a dress that didn’t fit. Of course it wasn’t really a dress, it could be opinions or styles, or anything.