Awakening

I really need to stop writing poetry at 2 AM.

Just before I decend into tenuous, breathing death of sleep

I wish to ask this question:

what is a dream

but dark, unconscious maddness,

insanity that's capped by the confines of slumber

plagued by still-unforgotten memories

desires snuffed out like so many flickering candles?

What is a dream, then,

but a brief heaven of sated wishes

tempered by the long hell

of awakening?

Author's Note

Forgive me, I'm bitter.

Reviews

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Emily,

More thoughts on your poem. I love the end of the poem and already commented on parts of this. But reading this again this seems to stand in strong opposition to the first part of the poem, i.e., how is it that a dream is a "brief heaven of sated wishes", when it is also a

"...unconscious maddness,
insanity that's capped by the confines of slumber
plagued by still-unforgotten memories
desires snuffed out like so many flickering candles?"

Are the "desires snuffed out", or are they "sated wishes"? I'm having trouble here.

Best regards,

Rick

[Rick Puetter]

Dear Emily Rose,

"What is a dream, then,
but a brief heaven of sated wishes"

You seem to understand the subconscious very well. Yes, the mind at play without the confines of the more contained conscious mind. How insightful. So relish in those "sated wishes". We rarely see them in the real world. It is fortunate that we can see them in dreams. Perhaps this is the psyche recuing us from reality.

A treat as usual.

Best regards,

Rick

[Mr. Misanthrope]

Poetry written in the early morning always possesses this unique dark charm, almost a lunar aura, filled with lycanthropic delights, blood-sucking atrocities, and pale psychic aspects. All in all, a collision of purple, white and lots of black. Lol.

Your poem was particularly intriguing as its based around dreams. Something very stylish, which walks hand in hand with elegance, the psychic realm has always interested me. And the sheer beauty you present in this amazing piece of yours is a bonus.

Well done!

Luke

[JudyC]

I like the questions this poem raises, and the idea of a safe kind of madness ("capped by the confines of slumber"). For me, the questions answer themselves; if awakening is a "long hell", we can at least know that we have another chance to honor our "sated wishes". If bitterness brings forth poetry, bring it on!

[Donald Meikle]

In your dreams the nightmare can be ridden. In life the saddle's loose and the bit is chocolate.

[Charles D. Moorer]

How else does one find clarity but through bitterness? But this bitterness brings with it clarity and purpose aforethought at 2:00 a.m. Such bitterness is indeed a muse! Curse it not.

[Chaos]

This is wonderful. I could feel the bitterness in this piece and it compliments it quite nicely; I must say. I love the flow and the questions you ask are appropriate and I often wonder those same things myself. My dreams betray me sometimes. I loved the piece. Nice work.

[[untitled]]

What is a dream, then,
but a brief heaven sated wishes
tempered by the long hell
of awakening?

Such strong lines here and powerful, I like this write alot very well written, It's good to let feelings go.