It's really quite funny she giggles
How you keep searching for the thing you can never have
But I have to try
Not having cans is a nightmare
My body twitches and the stairs move like jello
We have to hold the railings to get out the door
No wonder we never leave this place
Sleep comes
We wake ourselves up talking
I talk more in my sleep than when I'm awake
It feels safer that way
But the words make no sense
She wipes the hair from her face
Washes her sticky fingers
I open the windows wide
We like the breeze
It's really quite funny she giggles.
Giggling can be quite eerie but also full of fear - I often giggle when I'm anxious or afraid. Several phrases I find nightmarish in your poem, Jae, are the phrases 'the stairs move like jello' and 'We have to hold the railings to get out the door'. I also relate to the line 'I talk more in my sleep than when I'm awake'. I used to talk in my sleep every night but not so much nowadays. It's spookier when you hear someone else doing it.
ReplyDeleteFear is usually greatest before you meet the enemy, but when you have you just know you have to fight and you lose any inhibitions you have, as it has to be done! There is nothing better than waking up and opening the windows to a new day and feeling the breeze on your face and know you can win after all.
ReplyDeleteYes, the waking up, to find it has all been a dream, maybe a nightmare, the breeze through the window, feels wonderful!!! You did write about some pretty scary things, stairs of jello and sleep-talking.
ReplyDeleteThe nightmare, to me, is the stairs like jello. I love the opening of the window, the choice of fresh air, and inviting the day in. Thinking of you, my friend.
ReplyDeleteThe stairs like jello give me the jimjams. Scary poem. But Alice is giggling so it's okay.
ReplyDelete"I talk more in my sleep than when I'm awake
ReplyDeleteIt feels safer that way...
I understand this as I used to be very, very shy as a child.
Some dreams are for real, I'm thinking that tuning out of cans is a real life phobia. Jello scares me, being made made from cow hooves. I won't eat it or have it near.
ReplyDelete..
Fantastic job capturing the fever and swirl of a dream. I loved the imagery of the jello and how that paired with the thoughts on talking in sleep more than reality. Well done and thanks for posting to the out of standard!
ReplyDeleteI talk a lot but not necessarily to anyone. Talking out loud and writing help me make sense of things. Poems translate the world into a language I can understand
ReplyDeletehttps://mindlovemisery.wordpress.com/