Kari,

You've got me thinking of dreams and poetry. A lot
of poetry does seem to come from or lead to the
fluidity and enigma of dream. Through this list I
found some very enigmatic poems by Bruce Andrews
which feel rather unmoored from linearity like
some sort of dream of language (or
nightmare)...The poems were in ANGELAKI, volume 5
number 1 April 2000 - this is probably the link I
used to start with
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/routledge/0969725x
.html

Like others who posted for this I can remember
getting and losing a poem in a dream.
And then there are the lines that come just on the
point of falling asleep, and for those I tried to
adapt I think it was Lewis Carroll's invention of
a way of writing in the dark (my method didn't
work).

Here's something I wrote a few years ago, prompted
by a waking experience.



Dream of a Knitted Cap


    Her knitted cap hangs on a hook dreaming
of a second, phantom hook.

    Within a staked compound (this is the dream)
the ram has browsed, feeding a hidden, singular
purport. Crinkled wool is caught on the pickets
and knotted in the stiff grass. Tonight the ram
hangs like a woollen tabernacle with doors half
open impaled on spears, its secret removed from
view into a nearby tent.
    The tent is domed and private, made of fine
cloth
and sutured hides, with many poles and complex
lashing. (Its methodical composure appeals to the
dreamer.) All eyes are seeking the entrance to the
tent which has become impossible to discern.
    In time a girl emerges leading a procession
from
within the tent. The procession is joined by
others
and lengthens, weaving among the stilted
dwellings.
The girl is robed in lacework and on her head she
wears the washed stomach of the ram, its pale
lattice
dazzling in firelight, pierced with ornamental
skewers.

    Her knitted cap, less troubled by loose ends,
slumbers on its hook. The enchanted thread
endures as a working model of the labyrinth; its
sieve of snares and loopholes might (if shaken
in a dream) contain a twin-horned threat.



Regards
Nicholas Sergeant

(The waking experience was of a woman, whose
crocheted cap I had noticed, asking me if I didn't
think it resembled tripe.)




----- Original Message -----
From: Kari Foster <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2001 4:37 PM
Subject: In my dreams


> Last night in my dreams I sat down and wrote a
poem -- it
> came to me effortlessly, of course -- and as I
dashed off
> each witty line, the people looking over my
shoulder laughed
> and applauded.   Upon waking I remembered more
or less
> how the poem went, and naturally it's complete
rubbish.
>
> This brings me to my question:  have any of you
had a poem
> or poem idea come to you in your dreams?  Has it
ever
> resulted in something worthwhile?
>
> Wouldn't it be nice?
>
> Kari
>