We can only speak of the dream

When the dream as ended,

We only know we’ve slept when we’re awake.

The conscious mind is suffocated by fear,

We mistrust the dream when we are forced

To live.

We are as shadows in this conscious state

Afraid to trust the images of night. Each

Morning we awake and tell ourselves; we

Cannot trust the mirror, it is an imperfect

Projection, we only see the image we

Long to be, we only see the dream.

Comments:

kitty08

Hmmm... no words to discribe the simple complexity of this poem. I think I'm gonna enjoy your work.

Posted: Apr 4, 2008

Author Comment:

thanks kitty, as i am enjoying your work too

Awesome^_^! Another great poem that you've conjured from your intelligent mind^-^-- lol! Is this poem kind've about having a dream about yourself as someone you wish yourself to be, and then waking up-- fearing that it was only a dream-- to find that it was a dream? I've probably got it wrong-- but that's what I thought^_^! I loved this (partly because I love poems that have to do with dreams).

Lot's of special chocolate to you,

Ghiradelli Girl.

Posted: Apr 4, 2008

Author Comment:

yeah your spot on, tho i wrote this poem so long ago im not sure myself now. also its about not letting your fears get the better of u. theres a battle raging between our conscious and subconscious minds, but which one will triumph? everybody can take something different from a poem thats whats so wonderful about it. thanks for stopping by and reading my efforts. its late in england and i must get to bed, but i will stop by soon and read more of your work

Irwin
(not registered user)

The trick is to know when you're dreaming and stay there, it's not all wine and roses though, it can be quite frightening at times. I have sleep apnoea and sometimes when I am forced to awaken from a dream the images can stay in my conscious mind for some time and this can be freeky! I can relate to your poem and I like it.

Posted: Apr 5, 2008

Author Comment:

thanks Irwin, it's great to hear from u. i wanted the poem to symbolise that aspect of our personality that wants to break free from the dominant conscious realm. maybe the part of our personality we hide, like the fear to show people your poems in case they ridicule you. thats why this web site is so cool, it feels like you can break free and the subconsicous realm. does that make sense?

Alice Oiseau

you are an amazing writer. this short, but beautiful poem left me speechless. "the conscious mind is suffocated by fear" - that was a wickedly powerful line that i absoultely loved!!

Posted: Apr 7, 2008

Author Comment:

thank you birdie, your comments mean more to me than u can know!!!

Before the dawn

I is true and I liked it a lot. I could really feel what you were saying.

Posted: Apr 27, 2008

Author Comment:

thanx so much for reading

Ashleigh Butcher

This is fantastic. Very powerful and a lovely topic. You're my inspiration for today. Well done!

Posted: May 14, 2008

Author Comment:

haha, thank u so much. wow, i love being an inspiration, and im going to read your poems very soooon

Dragonfly

Matt this one really hit home! I loved it and it made me think of so many things. This just might be the strangest comment you've ever gotten so feel free to delete it. :)

Ever since I was a little girl, I've had this fantasy that maybe I'm actually stuck in a jar somewhere dreaming my life. (I think it came from an old Star Trek episode.) Strangely, its been comforting at times.

It stuck with me for so long that I wrote a book about a man in a coma that reached out with his mind to draw a woman in his dream state. She then felt like his mind/dreams was her true existence.

Sorry, I know this is long and I'm not even sharing everything! But, I'm getting way off track. I wholeheartedly enjoyed this one. It was beautiful and started my mind working like crazy which is a very good thing. You really are quite talented Matt. This one is amazing!

Posted: May 14, 2008

Author Comment:

Hi Sisi, thanx so much for such a wonderful comment. And no it doesn’t seem strange at all and I would never dream of deleting it. In fact I find it quite fascinating. What you say about the jar is intriguing and you should follow the idea in poetry. It is in many ways what I’m trying to say in this poem, though I use the realms of the conscious and subconscious as my metaphors. I suppose in many ways so do you although it has a si-fi (star trek) influence; though I see it as the same. Whether it be a coma, jar, trapped within your subconscious, a dream (again same as subconscious) its this idea that the life we lead is somehow not real. Or there is another dimension to it. I would love to read that book of yours, it sounds truly fascinating. A wonderful idea. I wonder if we can reach out with our minds and connect? I first came across this idea at uni when I was reading Carl Jung. It was the theory of collective consciousness; that many people could connect on a deeper level. It sort of got my mind thinking and this poem was written at that time. I also read a book (cannot for the life of me remember what it was called) about a man who lived his normal life and lived a separate life in his dreams at night. However, the better his dream life became, the worse his real life became. Sort of like Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Grey ( have you read it? If no then you should its wonderful) All this conscious and subconscious stuff is so interesting and there’s so many ways you can go with it. As writers we do inhabit “dream worlds” to me its just the same. A powerful imagination can create many realities whether they are real or just in fiction. Again thanx so much for your wonderful comment, now you’ve got my mind thinking!!!!!!

Pratibha

We are as shadows in this conscious state
Afraid to trust the images of night

how true...if only i could accept myself too...soulful and lovely...

Posted: Jul 13, 2008

Author Comment:

i think we all have some insecurities about life, they lurk in the subconscious and seem too attack at night when we are most vulnerable

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