World Dream Bank: STRUCK BY THOUGHT

World Dream Bank home - add a dream - newest - art gallery - sampler - dreams by title, subject, author, date, places, names

STRUCK BY THOUGHT

dreamed by Chris Wayan (each verse is a short dream; 1956-82); poem, 83/9/12.

"One wing can't fly; but even two wings need a heart" --Pogo

Dreams are blunt! My longings slap my face.
The warm touch of mind to mine,
Or an animal body's ease--and then
The old ache and groan of
Overbrained bipedal beasts
Burdened beyond our bearing.

I AM THREE
I was a wildhorse, swooping free.
Red desert dust-plumes waved
At the sweet trumpet sun--
And then guilt reined!
Who'll we trample if we run?
MOONDOME
We're seals. Lie heaped in domes
On the moon! Rookeries on
Air-beaches, in the old dust sea.
In low-gravity mid-ballet, we
Fluid seals are struck
Earth-awkward by thought.
GYRLFALCON
Then I was an angel, but no dove--
Hawk, banded, talon-sharp
Perched on the shag-shoulder
Of my greenmaned lion love.
Who were those Morlocks
Rumbling in dread deep? We
Feared, but dove in dark--
YTHRIAN
Then I was an Ythrian, a winged sphinx
Lonely in a world of flightless Men.
Yet... to ride the air! Would be
Near-worth an outcast's pain.
But in that life I never flew: instead
I hobbled roads, encased!
Lead armor for the alpha-spitting waste
Their industry injected in the world's sore vein.
MIGRANT
Then I was a girl bluefeathered,
Quasiprincess of our breed.
We land to rest in a human coastal town
Along our flyway every fall and spring.
But windowleaping worries them,
So we creep their stair.
I try to squeeze--
too wide my wing--
L'albatros Baudelaire.

NOTES

The Morlocks and the underworld we dove into are from The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.
The Ythrians are from The People of the Wind and The Earth Book of Stormgate, both by Poul Anderson.
The last dream echoed Baudelaire's poem "L'Albatros"; comparing the visionary artist with a grounded albatross, whose "wide wings keep him from walking."

For years I felt crippled, not because I was inherently defective (albatrosses can walk!) but because others made the way too narrow for our kind--most institutions just have no room for freaks. The Ythrian dream made the point even more harshly. Like many child prodigies I had allergies and chemical sensitivities; couldn't eat, drink, live, work, even breathe in many human environments.

Still, as the horse- and seal-dreams pointed out, it's not all others; a prodigy's early-flowering conscience can also weigh a child down, crush the innocent beast. Me, at least.

LISTS AND LINKS:
Intro/General: dream poems - I'm Just Not Myself Today - gender-bent and species-bent dreams - giftedness and genius - digital art
I Am Three (recurring dreams age 2-3, 1956-57): horses - guilt - a related dream: I Am Three
Moondome (feverdream/vision 1983/9/12): living on Luna - seals and selkies - Owl ballet on Venus - Swing dance on Lyr
Gyrlfalcon (dream, 1971/11/26): hawks - angels - flying - gender-bent & species-bent dreams - H.G. Wells - this full dream: Gyrlfalcon
Ythrian (dream, 1978/12/28): other worlds - aliens and outsiders - radiation - armor - chronic illness - a 2nd dream inspired by Poul Anderson: Witweet
Migrant (dream, 1982/10/5): guides, duty and royalty - towers - ascent - frustration - an earlier bird-girl-frustrated-with-humans dream: Freebird Tower
More migration dreams: Alder migrates on foot due to Flock Wisdom; Wayan leads the Wapato Birds and Migrates through Fire

World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sk - Sl-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites

	I AM THREE I was a wildhorse, swooping free. Red desert dust-plumes waved At the sweet trumpet sun-- And then guilt reined! Who'll we trample if we run?
	MOONDOME We're seals. Lie heaped in domes On the moon! Rookeries on Air-beaches, in the old dust sea. In low-gravity mid-ballet, we Fluid seals are struck Earth-awkward by thought.
	GYRLFALCON Then I was an angel, but no dove-- Hawk, banded, talon-sharp Perched on the shag-shoulder Of my greenmaned lion love. Who were those Morlocks Rumbling in dread deep? We Feared, but dove in dark--
	YTHRIAN Then I was an Ythrian, a winged sphinx Lonely in a world of flightless Men. Yet... to ride the air! Would be Near-worth an outcast's pain. But in that life I never flew: instead I hobbled roads, encased! Lead armor for the alpha-spitting waste Their industry injected in the world's sore vein.
	MIGRANT Then I was a girl bluefeathered, Quasiprincess of our breed. We land to rest in a human coastal town Along our flyway every fall and spring. But windowleaping worries them, So we creep their stair. I try to squeeze-- too wide my wing-- L'albatros Baudelaire.