Twelve Beds for the Dreamer
Twelve Beds for the Dreamer
"In my dream I'm dragged struggling to the people.I'm thrown among them,
accounting for myself as the gallows is hammered.
I wake to silence, endemic hypocrisy,
and a huge wheel I'd like some room upon."
from 'Bound' (Sagittarius)
The 'twelve beds' in the title of this collection refer to the twelve astrological signs. I began by noting the stages of the moon's monthly cycle and checking whether my dreams might bear any relation to them. Would I dream of conflict when the moon was in Aries, or of love when it was in Libra? I didn't pursue the experiment scientifically, but I did write the dreams as poems and found that they could be allocated thematic places within the astrological divisions. I added other poems of the night and half-light to achieve an exploration of the inner life and a celebration of the zodiac, astrology having proved a remarkably effective map-maker in my experience.
The journey in the sequence is from Cancer (home, children, tradition) to Gemini (information, communication, restlessness), a road which has also been walked by my generation. The last poems in the sequence are steeped in the clamorous demands of the Celtic Tiger mentality.
Jennifer Matthews reviews Twelve Beds for the Dreamer in Southword.
Copies are available for €15 plus postage.
Buy
Read an excerpt.
Gallery
 |
 |
 |