Traveling

Traveling in the dark

Hurrying to the place

Where I want to go.

Stopping along the way

Buying food for the road

Waiting for the others

Desiring to move

Come, I want to go.

Hoping that they hurry

Watching them delay

Leaving them where they sit

Crossing the empty ground

Bye, I want to go.

Knowing not the dark path

Realizing I need them

Hesitating midway

Looking for the others

Pause, I want to go.

Coming very quickly

Arriving on a skiff

Pointing to the road way

Joining with the others

There I want to go.

Dream Poetry series 2010--Traveling by Lisa Barnes

The Gift

"At the right time

A gift will come.

Go and present yourself.”

I wait in the cave.

Fear approaches.

I back away,

But I know

At the right time,

A gift will come.

I wait in the cave.

Fear approaches.

I back away.

At the right time,

The gift appears.

Fear takes it in its mouth

And carries it away.

A second gift remains.

I pick it up

And take it

Out of the cave

Up the cliff side

Through the narrows

Past the thorns

Back to the one

Who lowered the gift

Into the cave

Into the mouth of fear

At the right time.

Tears of release

Arms of assurance.

Dream Poetry series 2010 The Gift by Lisa Barnes

Two Windows

Open windows

Close the left

Latch the left

Close the right

Latch the right

Drop the curtain

Covered windows

2009 Dream Poetry Series--Two Windows by Lisa Barnes

Photo: http://www.weinstein-gallery.com/artists.php?aid=5#nogo

The Explosion

From a position

Distant,

I saw an object

Plunge

Through the sky

Downward

And to my right.

From a position

Distant,

I saw a person

Run

On a path

Forward

And beneath me.

From a position

Distant,

I saw the object

Explode

In the path

Below

And underneath me.

From a position

Distant,

I saw the person

Thrown

On the ground

Backward

And to my left.

From a position

Distant

I saw the person

Rise

From the earth

Toward

The explosion.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--The Explosion by Lisa Barnes

Poison in the Pot

The batch is stewing,
A concoction is brewing.
There is poison in the pot.

Stop! Come with me
To the garden and see
What poison is in the pot.

The ingredients are there
And recognition laid bare
The poison in the pot.

A mistake was wrought
What was thought
To be poison was not.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--Poison in the Pot by L.D.Barnes

The Game

In the game
Toss to me
Then back to you.
Catch and throw
Throw and catch.

Oops!

Dangerous pitch
Into the ditch,
A dry and sandy place—
A water-washed out space.
No lingering here
Where torrents tear
Unstable feet
From underneath
And sweep the
Flailing hearts away
Into the deep.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--The Game by L.D.Barnes
Art: http://www.heaventoearthart.com/artist/anita_saxon.htm

Musicians with Instruments

A row of men
Musicians
In pressed brown suits
And cradling long dark wooden
Instruments
Close to their bodies
Standing still and ready
Waiting to play their
Instruments.
“Why are you looking at me,
Musicians with instruments?”

2009 Dream Poetry Series--Musicians with Instruments by L.D.Barnes

Open Sea

Drifting into open sea,
No, steer right
Behind the fence
Toward the shore.

We need the oar.
Yes, paddle right
Behind the fence
Avoiding the open sea.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--Open Sea by L.D.Barnes
Art: http://www.artbycbarth.com/opensea.htm

Interruption

Everything is ready,
In order.
This is dusted.
This is not.
Interrupted
By the memory
Of another obligation.
Divided by desire
And rushed by lateness.
Unfinished.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--Interruption by L.D.Barnes



Art: http://www.tokinowasuremono.com/e/artist-002-back/200803gian_berto_vanni.html

Traveling North

In the doorway,
Watching
Eastern fields,
Empty and dry,
Flying past the window.
Traveling north
Empty and untied,
A pair of sneakers
Waiting
By the doorway.

Fields and sneakers,
Sneakers and fields,
Watching,
Waiting,
Wondering.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--Traveling North by L.D.Barnes

The Song

There is a song,
I don’t remember.
It begins, “Since
By God’s mercy
We are engaged.”
Repeat it again,
Maybe I’ll remember.
The second part
Is out the back
And around the front.
Songs from another time
Are discovered.
And the missing piece
Is recovered just in time.
I hold the song
In my hand,
Turn off the light,
And run out the back.
The other songs are
Properly placed
Near the woman
Who is looking
From her bed.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--The Song by L.D.Barnes

Searching for the Necessaries

Searching for the necessaries
Packed by someone else
Moving from the darkness
Opening the door.

Standing in the hallway
Staring at the walnut
Before the pinkish wall
Silently closing the door.

Entering through another door
Looking ‘round behind
Lifting the latch
Peering at the walnut.

Falling unhinged
Ragged edges
Irreparable scrabbling
The door is open.

2009 Dream Poetry Series--Searching for the Necessaries by L.D.Barnes

Shot in the Back

Seized and kidnapped
Deceptive disguise
White-haired murderer
The secret is known
The woman survives.


2009 Series Dream Poetry--Shot in the Back by L.D.Barnes

Art: http://www.redbubble.com/people/modernlifeform/art/157517-9-portrait-of-a-woman

Face to Face

A face
Dragging forward
A face
Running backward
Taking turns in the corridor
And leaving tracks in the dust,
The “Nuts and bolts”
Are “Out of order”
And disappear
Through the small pink door.
“Is that the way?”

“Here it is,” says he.
Another door in the floor—
A trapdoor in the floor
An empty space
With stairs to a dark place.
A male voice calls.
A grasping arm seizes
Two caught unaware
Called by name
Pulled down by the same.

“Is that you?” calls he
From beneath the floor
The trapdoor in the floor.
Fear has no answer.
Act quickly.
Close the door,
And cover it up
With small rugs
And pieces of tile
Piled on top.

2009 Series Dream Poetry--Face to Face by L.D.Barnes

Dream Poetry

Dreams intrigue me. They are pictures of the inner world—the interior life. They are stories of the deeper self. They have power to teach. They have power to direct the exterior life. They are mysterious communicants of the spiritual. And like any experience in life, a bit of reflecting is one of the keys to spiritual formation.

I reflect on my dreams in a few different ways. I write them down in detail. I title them. I draw them. I name my affective experience. I revisit the dream as a form of meditation and converse with the characters. And just recently, I have begun to create dream poetry. This idea came from a friend who makes this her practice.

So over the next few days, I will be posting dream poetry. And for you dear reader, I invite you to do the same: create your own dream poetry and post it here as a comment or on your own blog.