And No One Shall Terrify You: Dreamscape (Poem) at Insomnia Salon

Performed tonight at Insomnia Salon, so I thought I'd include the poem I wrote. I was part of a collective that spent the year exploring dreams.

Photo by Clément Falize on Unsplash

We say it without thinking in synagogues

As the liturgy nudges us  in prayerbook Hebrew

You shall lie down and no one shall terrify you

The words every one of us needs to believe.

 

My own dreams bring familiar nightmares

Persistent visitors feeding on fear, waiting to terrify

Once in a while, though, a good one gets through

It recurs, holding back wind and rain so I won’t be cold.

 

There is only warmth and a feeling of belonging

What is that? Where is this place?

When Jacob awoke beside a ladder and the angels said

Climb! He knew where he was going. Not so I.

 

Once in a while I find myself in a river with a friend

I never see her face but know who she is, hallelujah

The water welcomes us and I want to stay forever

Is this what it means to have an afterlife?

 

Dancing through a  city square with cobblestones, brownstones

An ivy-covered  bridge that leads  over open water

Rippling as you cross it, whispering sky-cloud songs

You should stay, it says, you really do belong.

 

On nights when I dream these invitations to serenity

I realize they are what I’m always looking for God to say

You shall lie down and no one shall terrify you.

You shall lie down. No one shall terrify. No one.