Monday, December 14, 2009

the well of dreams

some days
i wake
in the dream world.

bathe in the water
put on the clothes
drink the coffee
eat the food.

walk the white crystal path
through the dream world.

tsuchiya koitsu
suijin woods in the snow along the sumida river, tokyo



in the middle of the night,

i suddenly rise,
draw water

from the deep well.
white dew

covers the woods;
morning stars

dot the clear sky.

jia dao
 trans. mike o'connor

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

somedays i prefer the dream world...

Acornmoon said...

Very beautiful, both words and pictures. I clicked on the image for a closer look, is that a gas works in the background?

Anonymous said...

I like this a lot and think it has more meaning than some things I have read recently. Of course I like the picture.

steven said...

hi steven - i think that the dream and real worlds shift and meld elements of each other. like an onion peeling away the layers, you'll find more of both the deeper you go. have a peaceful dreamy day. steven

steven said...

thanks acornmoon - i looked as well and it could be. it has the right shape . . . the print dates from 1934 so i think the technology was there to support such a possibility. have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

good morning abe - i'm glad you like it. have a dreamy day. steven

Pauline said...

what a marvelous way to start the day!

steven said...

hi pauline - straight from one dream into another..... have a dreamy day. steven

Wanda..... said...

Beautiful words...I also loved your comment at Abe's blog, about telling your students "a wolf does not bring down a deer in anger"!

First time visitor, now a follower.

Golden West said...

I'm with Pauline, such a nice way to start the day, Steven.

Barry said...

When the trees get covered with that heavy frost, or clinging snow, the real world and the dream world become one.

Jenny Stevning said...

A Chinese poet - Jia Dao - that is a new discovery for me, too! My sister-in-law in Chinese. She wrote in 'I don't know' in Chinese characters for my mom. I don't know - an answer I use to hate but know I love as I get older. It keeps the mystery.

"Am I awake in this dream world?"

"I don't know."

Thank, Steven. Beautiful.

Tess Kincaid said...

Where would we be without our dreams?

Lisa Ursu said...

"in the middle of the night,
i suddenly rise,
draw water
from the deep well"
those words mean a great deal to me.
Stunning imagery.
Thanks for sharing.

ellen abbott said...

Love the print.

Linda Sue said...

Interesting- simpatico- I just posted about the dream I had last night - the dead came to reckon with me...Love this post!I can not shake the dream world during the day- like a shadow it is there - but not.

Reya Mellicker said...

Love your snowflakes! Very nice.

I dreamed last night that I had three small dogs: two wiener dogs, named Jet and Jetta, and a Boston terrier named Roxy.

Was sad when I woke up and remembered I have no dogs at all at the moment.

Oh well.

steven said...

jenny stevning - mmm hmmm i don't know. there are days where the space between worlds is almost seamless. then i don't know. steven

steven said...

willow - we'd be asleep in our awakeness. have a lovely evening at the manor. steven

steven said...

liza - when i first read the words i saw the idea of waking in your dreams and taking something from that dreamworld and bringing it into this world. then i saw that really they're only separated by the idea of awake and the idea of sleep. have a lovely evening. steven

steven said...

ellen i'm glad! steven

steven said...

linda sue i'll have to pop over and see the sympatico! i've received insight from my dreams but like most people, the detail and clarity of most is lost as soon as i wake up. what's interesting is that even then something of the feel and flavour of the dream colours my day. have a lovely evening. steven

steven said...

reya - a friend always suggested to me that all the characters in a dream are me. parts of me. me's as i project them. i wonder who those three puppies are in you reya? have a sweet dc evening. steven

steven said...

hello wanda!!! welcome and thankyou for your kind comment! i first realized that about wolves when i read a book by gary paulsen entitled "woodsong". that book did more to help me move away from projecting myself onto situations that are far removed. have a lovely evening. steven

Moira said...

I love this, your words and his.

steven said...

thankyou very much moira. i'm glad you enjoyed this post. some days the space between what is real and what is a dream is so close as to be hard to distinguish. have a dreamy day. steven

Ellie Kings said...

I love that image... magical. Dreams can take us places we'd never travel to in our waking life. Beautiful!