Friday, April 14, 2006

Recurring Dreams



_i dreamed i drove
__important destinations
___roads and stops and people and jobs
____i drove but never got there
_____they eat my alarm like poison

32 comments:

Sandra Ruttan said...

Love this Jason. I often think of driving dreams as creativity in motion - you aren't quite sure where you're going yet, some of it is a bit scary, and things are coming at you that you can't always make out until they're really close. For me, it's like writing.

Erik Ivan James said...

I must be really dense! Help me out here, Jason.

Bernita said...

My mother used to have one of driving in a snow storm, driving, driving.
Fear.

Anonymous said...

Sandra, that's a great point! Writing is like dreaming. Maybe some of the same brain processes are going on. I love when things pop into my head that I didn't consciously look for.

Erik, you're not dense! I'm just being artsy-fartsy here. I was experimenting with long exposure photography the other night and got someone interesting results. This picture struck me as cool because the headlights and tailights are from the same car. I panned the camera during the exposure to get both angles. The "poetry" here (I use the term loosely) just reflects the strange, dreamlike quality of the picture. I avoid explaining what I meant in poetry, since I think it diminishes whatever personal meaning it had for the reader.

Bernita, I felt the cold and isolation in your words. A powerful dream.

Bernita said...

Mostly during her last illness, Jason.
She wanted to get home.

Linda said...

Very cool photo. A highway to your dreams. That is how I view it. I had the weirdest dream last night and I can't quit thinking about it. I have no idea where any of it came from. I just might have to do a post on it. Analize it or something.
Thank you for all your well wishes. I am happy to be back home.
Off to read part 2 of Diamond Shoals :)

Bailey Stewart said...

very effective -the words and photo together.

mermaid said...

An answer lies somewhere in the neon maze of neuronal circuits. The damn thing is always fuzzy and just out of reach. Sometimes the wrong things lights up. Picture says it all.

Martyn said...

A stunning photo

Kara Alison said...

Jason - So glad to see some others experimenting in poetry. It's a really tough form to feel comfortable with (and perhaps that's the idea). I find that people who are very descriptive (such as yourself) can have an even tougher time dropping that habit and adopting the vague and obscure language more commonly seen in poems. This is very well done.

And thanks for the note on my blog. I've been freaking out about finding a job lately (as graduation looms near) and some of my more thought intensive pastimes have suffered for it. Hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for soon. It's nice to have been missed!

Anonymous said...

Bernita, do mean last as in last of her life?

BeadinggalinMS, I hope you do post it. Dreams are fascinating. Mine aren't usually terribly exciting though. I guess I get most of the weirdness out on paper. ;)

Eve, thanks! Used to do more posts with pictures and captions. Now that the weather is improving and I can take pictures of something other than snow, I should be doing more.

Mermaid, your insights are always so open and perceptive. I also felt the photo was dreamlike for those reasons.

Martyn, welcome welcome! Always glad to see a new face here. Thanks for the comment! Hope to see you back.

Anonymous said...

Kara, oops, we typed past each other.

I figured your school/graduation/job situation must be heating up. Makes me appreciate the visit all the more. :) You're so right about poetry. I tend to focus on meter, natural rhyme, etc. Free flow poetry isn't my comfort zone.

THE PROFESSOR said...

Good to see another writer writing. I'll definitely come back to your blog.

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Very cool, Jason! I love it! =D

Melissa Amateis said...

What an eery photo. But it definitely reminds me of some of my own dreams, the kind where you wake up and it stays with you the entire day, making everything sort of tilted and off-balance.

Bernita said...

Yes.
Sorry if I was cryptic.
She wanted to get home in the dream of driving in the snow storm but she never did in the dream.
Just driving in the endless snow, doing her best.
Hurt me to hear it.
She was a brave woman.

WannabeMe said...

I really like the lines in this photo. Very nice.

Jeff said...

Cool photo, Jason. I like it! :)

Anonymous said...

Amazing photo. How did you take it?

Anonymous said...

A.L., great to see you! Thanks for coming. I see you have some fiction pieces on your blog. I'll be over to check them out.

Kel, thanks! :)

Melissa, I know what you mean. The photo reminded me of that quasi-reality.

Bernita, very poignant. I'm sure she found her way in the end.

Dana, much appreciated. =)

Jeff, I got some other good ones that night. You'll be seeing them now and again.

Eileen, the photo was an 8 second exposure. I started the shot when a car was approaching. As it passed, I swung the camera to follow it down the road. That's how I got both the headlights and the taillights of the same car in the same photo. The light fell on some of the nearby yards, increasing the elements in the picture.

Unknown said...

That photo is really cool, I love it.. Course, maybe it's me, but I don't see it as creepy by any means, I see the dreamlike quality and it almost makes me think of something fantastical and magical... ;)

Anonymous said...

Candice, the nice thing about abstract shots like this are people can interpret them so many different ways. It's not creepy to me either. More disjointed. It twists on itself just like dreams.

Terri said...

Yes, disjointed is a word I would use too. Flowing... but not.

I just caught up on Diamond Shoals, by the way - excellent edge-of-your-seat stuff. Where's part 3???!

anne frasier said...

i love both the photo and poem, jason.
it's easy to see how poetry touches all your work.

Robin said...

I very much enjoy your blog, Jason, the stories, poetry, pictures, all of it. Thank you for listing my link there, I'm quite undeserving, but thank you.

Anonymous said...

Terri, I like your description! :) Thanks for the comment on Diamond Shoals. The third part will be posted late Easter night. Just for you, I've made it a long one.

Anne, I've decided that it's a strength. At times I thought it was a flaw. The response to this blog, though, has shown me that it has a place out there.

Robin, thank you for your kind words. You've been a friend here with your visits and support. I'm very happy to link your blog. =)

Sandra Ruttan said...

Jason, to do poetry well is a gift. You've got a knack for it and it would be a shame not to use that talent! I'm glad you see that. I admire the ability to put words and visuals together in a way that brings more depth to both.

Anonymous said...

Sandra, you're a great friend! Thank you.

My goal in novel writing these days is to have very accessible action and dialog, but also have a poetic edge to the narrative. A extra depth to add potency to the experience.

Sandra Ruttan said...

That's a great goal to have. Sometimes, I read work and the alliteration is delicious, the words just flow like water trickling gently in a stream. Not angry gushing, but that nice bubbly, lively flow.

Balancing the action and story telling with the quality writing isn't easy, but I think that's the ultimate focus for writers. With your knack for poetry, I think you'll do great.

Anonymous said...

Sandra, wise words about balance. Too much and the spell is broken. Too little and the spell is broken. Riding the knife's edge is demanded. No less.

Ann Marie Simard said...

Jason the poet of poems unspoken - this last comment of yours just says it all...

The dreamy dream list made me think of

I get the urge for going
But
I never seem to go



Thanks for sharing... I still have my "dreamery" the dream diary - not online {yet?}

Thanks for this and other diamonds -

Ann Marie

Anonymous said...

Ann Marie, I'm looking forward to seeing the "Dreamery." Will it be a poetry focus?

Thank you, as always, for your insights. It's a great gift that we can experiment and learn together.