MORE BEANS!

Another stress dream I used to have often when I was still doing speaking engagements, poetry readings and workshops. I am speaking before an audience, when great wads of green beans begin to grow out of my mouth. I tear away at them, rip them out, long, choking, tangled wads of beans, and as fast as I pull them out and throw them away, more grow.

What, Dead My Love?

Ah, gosh! I had another of my theater dreams last night--I didn't know what the play was, couldn't remember my lines etc etc etc. The others in the play were really pissed off. Finally one of the guys got me a script, which I cleverly hid so the audience wouldn't know, but when I opened it, it was a sort of comic book, with 'Peanuts' cartoons inside. One of the props, which I was supposed to provide, was a really ugly salad, with wilted greens and bloated, rotten fruits. I told the cast to cover up for me by saying my character was dead. I decided I would just lie down on the floor backstage where no one would bother me, but in one scene, the audience was invited to come up to the stage and look over the top of the sets, and there I was, in full view! So I resurrected, so to speak, and popped in again, to the other actors great dismay.

What a trying night! I was glad to wake up.

I Dream of Riding

I dream of riding a great slow horse through an open place. There is much light where he walks, but the light illumes nothing. Where are we? The light widens into a river. We walk out toward the center. I can feel the bottomless light beneath us, as deep as the horse's flanks in places, or else impassable. I am frightened and confused. I lie curled against the animal for comfort, my hands grip his mane, but I fall. I cry out.


photo: Mark Waters, Marking Time

Kanji

There were things written in Japanese that I did not write, and I couldn't read. I wonder...if it was really Japanese that I saw sometime, somewhere, brought up for this dream, or was it all nonsense? I have heard other people in a previous dream speaking Japanese, but I couldn't understand them in that dream, either. Gibberish? Or phrases of a language my mind picked up who knows where, tossed out randomly?

A Night at the Movies!

We were adding up the cost of going to a movie--tickets, popcorn, drinks, etc. It came to about $100. (Not too far off!) Anyway, we don't have to pay a babysitter anymore.

Then it WAS a movie. Locale: Jakarta. Cast: Willem Dafoe and Ed Harris. Willem was the bad guy who had kidnapped a bunch of people and held them hostage, among them, Ed Harris, and (somehow) me. Events of the plot changed, so that Ed overpowered Willem and found himself in charge, with the weapon, etc. But his character devolved to become WORSE than the original bad guy. He was really BAD, I mean, he wouldn't even let Willem have any food! While the rest of us were eating, one of the ladies in the group hid pieces of food down her shirt, (under her breasts!) to smuggle to him. When Ed discovered this, he was very angry. There seemed to be a plot, of sorts. It was filled with car crashes and windows smashing, etc. All very exciting and entertaining....

Calvin to Hobbs:

I think we dream
so we don't have to be apart so long.
If we're in each other's dreams,
we can play together all night.


--Bill Watterson

CHARLOTTE

I dreamed of Charlotte Salomon all night long. I was chasing a truck. It had addresses and phone numbers of the people who could tell me more about her written on the sides and back. I tried to write them down, but it sped away. I met a woman who had a bunch of old photographs of her, which I coveted. I tried to make my needs known.