The Art of Sleep Writing
Aka What to Wear to a Dream
The thought has to drop
like a pin to the floor
In a bottomless dream
it stakes a claim
With a prick of interest
that doesn’t draw blood
and won’t wake you up
until morning
You struggle to stitch
what a bookmark keeps separate
You wait for the poems that fit like skin
dream them from a distance
then write them close in
You wear your beret
whether you’re asleep or awake
hopeful that the muse
will recognize you
__________Colleen Redman / dVerse Poets Pub/ Poets and Storytellers United
May 14th, 2020 8:47 pm
Great title and topic. The poetic process of capturing words. I especially like these lines,
“You wait for the poems that fit like skin
You dream them from a distance
then write them close in.”
May 14th, 2020 9:32 pm
I really love the entrance into this dreampoem, “The thought has to drop
like a pin to the floor
In a bottomless dream
it stakes a claim.”
May 14th, 2020 9:34 pm
You dream them from a distance
then write them close in
When we go on dreaming right till morning a treasure trove opens up with ideas to be picked at leisure. Very true Colleen!
Hank
May 14th, 2020 10:23 pm
Poetry does seem to come from thoughts that drop in a bottomless dream.
May 15th, 2020 12:02 am
Your dream has me thinking of Alice wandering through her wonderland.
May 15th, 2020 12:31 am
Sounds like a recipe for the magic the muse brings. I love the part about hoping you’re recognized.
May 15th, 2020 5:29 am
I love this poem, Ali! I am a sleep writer, regularly waking up with a complete poem or story. I also have a favourite black beret with black sequins, although I never wear it to bed! I especially love the lines:
‘The thought has to drop
like a pin to the floor
In a bottomless dream’
and
‘You wait for the poems that fit like skin
Dream them from a distance’.
May 15th, 2020 5:31 am
Sorry, Colleen! I’d just written a comment on Ali’s poem and my fingers remembered the name.
May 15th, 2020 11:16 am
“Sleep writing” is akin to what I call midnight epiphanies! I find, if I don’t grab my bedside notepad and scribble them down, by morning they’ve turned into will-o-the-wisps that can’t be recovered!
Fickle muse sometimes ignores our berets!
May 15th, 2020 8:55 pm
OH my, the last line is brilliant!
May 16th, 2020 4:11 pm
Perfect description of one of the wyas poems come – i too am always thinking of ways to wear that beret and tempt M. to visit
May 17th, 2020 1:13 am
Oh, how I love this! I wish I’d written it.
May 17th, 2020 2:39 am
Perhaps I ought to get a beret as well! I’ll try anyhing.
May 17th, 2020 6:25 am
You really know the ‘mechanics’ of poetry. Loved the last lines about the muse.
May 17th, 2020 6:52 am
It used to bug me than they garbled as I tried to record / retell them in the morning, but I’ve found they make better poetry when I have to fill in the gaps.
May 17th, 2020 9:35 am
Great evocation of writing.
May 17th, 2020 11:43 am
Tonight, I shall wear a dark story to bed… with a red scarf made of poems warming my neck.
May 17th, 2020 11:50 am
This is incredibly deep and profound! 😀 I wish I’d written this! ???
May 17th, 2020 12:34 pm
I immediately fell in love with the title, and then it got even better with the subtitle. I love and fully relate to that last line.
May 17th, 2020 2:31 pm
I also awaken during the night with lines in my head .. if I’m lucky I remembered to have pen and notebook handy. If not, I go bonkers in the morning trying to remember. Your poem is beautifully composed.
May 17th, 2020 2:58 pm
I feel you! My masterpieces unfold in my head as I toss in bed…all to be forgotten in the morning!
May 17th, 2020 3:19 pm
This is two poems that I put together. The actual line I managed to bring into wakefulness was the first line about the thought dropping down. In the other dream I was wearing my beret and met up with another poet.
May 17th, 2020 3:33 pm
I have never been able to capture words from sleep… but my dreams are probably present in my writing anyway as a dark undercurrent in a sunlit stram
May 17th, 2020 5:55 pm
I know that feeling of looking for poems that fit like skin–this is beautifully written Colleen–
May 18th, 2020 5:27 pm
Dreams, how they drop words on us.
May 18th, 2020 11:23 pm
This reminds me that some of the best stories or poems started as a dream. If only the muse could recognize me once in a while. Thank you for that thought.
May 19th, 2020 11:21 am
i experience this from time to time. you described it so well. great write!