Dreams

Greetings from Regensburg, Germany where my daughter Sarah and I are taking a Viking Cruise! Since I've made a commitment to post each and every Saturday morning, I thought I'd share a piece I wrote in 1986 which on the one hand, feels like a lifetime ago, and yet it's as relevant for me today as it was then. 

Dreaming My Way Towards Clarity

I dream that I am frozen on a road leading towards a mountain. The road is smooth and white with yellow daffodils along the edge. Pink cosmos fills the fields. The day is warm and sunny but I cannot enjoy it. I cannot move. A blue bird flutters above my head, beckoning me towards the top of the mountain that glistens, starlike. My feet refuse to move.

Six smooth statues sit on the road beside me, holding me tight. One is alabaster, smooth and shaped like a huge oval. The second is translucent with dark veins and fan like edges. Another a deep lapis carved into a bird. The next is green marble and perches on two points. At the road's edge are two pillars, one is vermilion and the second terra cotta. I plead, beg, cry, but the statues are still and silents. A ball of bright red yarn slips from my pocket. The blue bird slips the yarn through a loop in the side of each statue and returns it to my pocket. Relief floods my body as I move towards the mountain securely linked to my past.

The road stretches before me. The blue bird flies off and returns with gifts - a bit of lace, purple ribbon, a tiny brown bead. I put them in my pocket with the ball of yarn that trails behind, connecting me to the statues. The path is filled with agate chips that crunch under foot. I rest on a small ledge created by the trunk of a tree. Behind me is a pond with water lilies and mottled frogs. I hear the insects whizzing through the marsh. Warm rain soaks my skin and moves on towards the mountain.

My bird returns and perches on my knee. I check my pocket and find the ball of year securely wedged, it's tail traveling through a loop in my belt, back to the six serene statues behind me. I move ahead on my path towards my mountain, bluebird just ahead, sunshine and shadows at my feet. I pause to glance back just in time to see all six statues rise up on wheels and glide towards me. I am surrounded, embraced, encircled. We move along my path as a giant ball, leisurely. The looped yarn tangles and straightens but never breaks as we change places and partners. Dreaming my way towards clarity, I awaken.