The Logic of Dreams

Posted on October 25, 2021 by mitchteemley

gmorales-assignment-42

Thought for the Week

There’s a sort of “dream logic” by which most people live their lives, an unchallenged belief in what will be, even while living solely for what is, or rather for what seems to be. For what we can see, science tells us, is only a construct, an interpretation of what actually is. And yet we go on, living in Plato’s Cave, mistaking shadows for reality and living for those shadows. I had a dream that left me wondering, “Is my waking life any more real than my dreams?” Unable to express so insensible a thought in “sensible” language, I express it here in free verse:

I dreamed I’d flown to London.

I was about to call my wife to tell her,

“Honey, we’ve landed safely,”

when the alarm went off.

My first thought was,

I’ll leave her a message,

but there was no time.

So I said as I opened my eyes

there in bed beside my wife,

“Darling, I’m in London.”

When you’re stuck between Death and Life,

the upside down logic of Neverwas

makes preposterous sense.

We live in a middling place, you and I,

in the land of Neverwas,

between Death and Life;

between dreaming and waking,

believing in the land of Evermore

(even if we say we don’t),

yet living as though Neverwas was Evermore.

So we plan our present while we drop,

ignoring the Ocean in which we’re about to plop.

Neverwas is crowded and cruel,

speckled with motes of Beauty.

Yet we resolutely believe

those motes are all there is.

And so we fight to own them,

to control them,

even as they vanish.

For the motes are only flecks

of a limitless Beauty

that belongs to Someone else.

Soon now

we will splash down into that infinite Ocean

and suddenly find ourselves

on the shores of Evermore,

and if we have lived only by dream logic

we will not know how to walk inland

to Reality.

Nor will we even want to.

Our hearts will stay bound to Neverwas.

And all that will remain of us will be

the sense of Death,

the thing upon which we fed.

And it will be too late to learn

the sense of Life.

~Ω~

About mitchteemley

Writer, Filmmaker, Humorist, Thinker-about-stuffer
This entry was posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Humor, Poetry and tagged , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

23 Responses to The Logic of Dreams

  1. ejstoo says:
    October 25, 2021 at 12:26 pm

    As Shakespeare put it, ““ He takes false shadows for true substances. ”
    Titus Andronicus (1594). Interesting … Reality what a concept!, as Robin Williams so eloquently put it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  2. John W. Howell says:
    October 25, 2021 at 4:26 pm

    For some reason last night I dreamed I was cleaning shelves with Clorox wipes. I didn’t mention it this morning.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  3. Yernasia Quorelios says:
    October 25, 2021 at 5:15 pm

    💜 “Senses” ARE Designed to Detect “Reality” EveryOne and Extend to 6+ “Senses”; ergo, if it can be “sensed” it’s as “real” as YOU!!! ARE, for example Many Religious Folk Accept, WithOut Question, that Their Prophets and Other Leaders Experience Visions and Visionary “Dreams” EveryBody

    …💛💚💙…

    Like

    Reply
  5. murisopsis says:
    October 26, 2021 at 12:05 am

    Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.” – Poe’s poem seems to point to this same conclusion…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  6. Cinderella Released Ministries Podcasts from Mama Marlene Hoenig says:
    October 26, 2021 at 8:49 am

    Thanks Mitch, “Makes a lot of dreamsense instead of nonsense!”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. Gina Cash says:
    October 26, 2021 at 12:11 pm

    Beautifully profound, Mitch. Well done!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. boblorentson says:
    October 26, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    What was it Poe said? Something like, All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
    I like your poetic take on dreams vs reality.
    You might like my latest blog post, Give Your Mind the Dream Vacation it Deserves.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  9. Gary Fultz says:
    October 27, 2021 at 7:48 am

    So true Mitch, and really good. I’ll admit to needing coffee before rereading it though. Solomon would have agreed whole heartedly.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  10. worrylessjourney says:
    October 27, 2021 at 12:12 pm

    Great post. We have to live each day fully. It is all we have.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  11. appamprawns says:
    November 5, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    Your poem is so rooted in the real and yet gives that sweet feeling of the unknown – interesting read !

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  12. appamprawns says:
    November 5, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    Am sharing a short poem I had on a dreams and reality. Hope you like it
    https://appamprawns.wordpress.com/2021/11/05/dreamvsreality/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Pingback: electroencephalographically challenged | rfljenksy – Practicing Simplicity

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