Waking Dream

Bob, , ,

Rain on imaginary roofs. A feral cat
Under the spell of the moon. Besides,
We have passed this way before. The best
Of the railroad dusk, the tee shirts
Sweaty with the miles spent.
What are these thoughts
Chords through the verse, not seen, faintly heard,
Like gravity. What we put together and what
Is pulled apart.

19 thoughts on “Waking Dream”

  5. I’m a little late to the party here. Just got back from a trip up north to visit my girlfriend’s family and ate some ativan on the ride back (small dose), but had me in a waking dream, in and out of things that stopped making sense when I tried to articulate them and then I arrived home and see the title name of the poem – Waking Dream…….a little kismet action!!

    I like the suggestion here, in the beginning – “Besides, We have passed this way before” and what is this way? “imaginary rain on roofs or is it rain on imaginary roofs? and after, closer to the end “The best
    Of the railroad dusk, the tee shirts Sweaty with the miles spent.” That’s wonderful, the hard work and toil in that and the subtlety I suppose in chords barley or barely heard. (I always misspell that word) And in the end, what’s it all for anyway? Whatever we put together is pulled apart and then we do whatever it is all over again. Reminds me of those Tibetan monks who make a mandala out of sand. Takes them a couple of days, all different colors of sand and when it’s finished, they destroy it, shake it up and what not and then probably do it again. I maybe/probably missed the meaning here, but i liked the poem as always, great work!

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    1. Thanks Steve. I like the mandala comparison. Seems fitting. Dreams are like that, and life too. We build up and tear down. I guess I have been looking back lately, and asking how does it all add up? I hope you enjoyed your trip.

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      1. I like mandala reality too. To do whatever we do, not for recognition or posterity, but to be focused in the now and enjoy our realities and then let them go. I did enjoy the trip. My girlfriend’s mom lives in an assisted living home. It’s in the country, 90 minutes north of Quebec city, small town, so it’s quiet and relaxing and stress free and yet she had the tv tuned to the one of those stations with a still shot of a farm field with wind inspiring the grasses to wave. It’s supposed to help people relax which struck me as so funny in a small town which is already so relaxing.

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      2. I agree. There is so much in what you said, “to be focused in the now and enjoy our realities and then let them go.” Really, that’s a sentence I can meditate on. Glad you enjoyed the trip to the small town north of Quebec City. I got the chance to visit Quebec City one. It was beautiful. I image the town you visited would be beautiful as well. Yea, it’s kind of funny about the TV station. But relaxing watching tall grass in the wind, like waves, is a great way to let go. I hope all it well.

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      3. Pain relievers and anti-anxiety pills are often times better than booze or buds because yesterday becomes an absolute blur, a good flushing of the mental toilet. I’ve been freaking out my girlfriend as of late because I can’t remember a damn thing which makes me think of something Timothy Leary said, about dementia being the strangest trip he’d ever experienced. I’m not in the dementia state yet, but I feel little reminders that, if I live another 20 years, it’s gonna happen.

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      4. I have a fear of that too. My memory is the worst. I hope it’s noting more then weed hangover. I don’t mind getting old ,but losing ability/capacity to function, scares me.

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      5. I think we’re on the right track as far as improving our memory or keeping it at its current state in that we like to read. I’ve heard that reading, among its many benefits include enhancing both our concentration and memories.

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      7. I had never heard of Wallace Stevens but after a quick wikipedia search I see he was part of the Whitman gang, so I’m gonna check him out. Thanks Bob.

        I’m reading “THE SOUTHPAW” by Mark Harris and it’s disappointing. I heard or read that it was an underrated baseball fiction book, but so far it’s a bummer, pretty much just play by play of games, but I also bought another book by the same author called BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY. It was made into a movie with the same name and stars an early Robert Dinero and it’s a heart warming movie about a catcher who is dying and the warmth of one of his teammates. I’ll say no more in case you want to see it or read the book.

        I recently read ISLAND by Aldous Huxley and that was interesting, sort of a Buddhist manifesto utopia which is a great contrast to his dystopia BRAVE NEW WORLD written so many years earlier. He wrote ISLAND the same year he died and speaking of Huxley’s death, in a trivial pursuit question sort of way, Huxley died the same day Kennedy got shot in 1963 and Huxley apparently asked his wife to inject him wth LSD as he drifted away. I doubt I’ll have LSD at my bedside, but if I’m lucky enough to die in bed, a big shot of Jameson’s and a hit off a marijuana pipe oughta do the trick.

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      8. I’ve seen Bang The Drum Slowly. Great movie. I’ll be on the look our for the book. I’ve not read Island. But Brave New World was great. I’ll have to check out Island. I did know of Huxley’s death. That’s really brave do that. I’m more with you. The weed at the end seems much more up my alley. Have you ever seen Razor’s Edge. It’s a movie based on a book, with Bill Murray in it?

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