Passageways

Inspired by a dream within a dream…

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Brilliant colored petals drape the lifting limbs as life resurrects the dawn of day. The wind is music, and in it I dance, a child of distant dreams. My younger eyes grasp life from all textures and hues, and I am here unaware of horror; the horror of wasted days.

     In mere moments I age as the sun drives upward, and as its light grows, so does my discontent. How the pain plagues my wearied soul.

 

Strong hands, yet a weaker heart;

callused eyes with colorless vision.

How each dusted fragment

settles upon my aging view.

 

     A groping cloud swallows sun and sky as dark limbs lumber over the ebbing terrain. Ahead rises a secluded mansion, bright and beautiful, with pale pillars of ivory. These pillars are marbled, white fire, reaching above the misting sky, and laced with glimmering gold; the scent of orchid-tinged air breaths around me.

     The doors, huge myrtled soldiers etched in parable fabric, open to welcome me, and I step through this passage like Janus. A flowered fabric covered with crescents lines the entry and the spiral stairs which rise beyond my view. Plushed couches of maroon and deep rose welcome my weariness to rest as I pass through each hallway. Above me hover golden-candled chandeliers, with flames engorging the darkness.

     The fragrance of a feast fills the passage. I now can see the table alight with a profusion of woven breads, lush fruits, and roasted meats of all kinds. Deep forest, camel, and rose patterns dance on the warm walls. In the corner of the room above a white marbled mantle, painted in hushed tones, hangs a gold-trimmed image of Sarah. Her elegant white-laced dress whispers beauty, as her black hair adorns her lily face. A subtle smile embraces her cheeks.  Even the flames’ fervor, burning beneath her portrait, seems feeble in contrast to the incandescence of her eyes.

     In ashen silence, Sarah appears through a passageway dressed in draped ivory.  The room seems to unravel and swell as her smiling eyes draw me to her side, and we begin to swing and sway upon a frosted marble floor.  As she clings to my hand and searches my eyes all that is around me wanes and withers from sight.  In her olive eyes I uncover a world of wonderment, and her strength and song rise within my wavering heart.  For one momentary interlude it seems there is no world but ours. Then, with the sound of a piercing shriek, Sarah flees down a stained and sable corridor.

     I feel a slithering chill wind as I pass from this banquet room into the hallway beyond where Sarah’s image departed.  The walls grow dark and deep, laced with webs and frosted winter. I taste dust in my mouth and smell the musty odor of grappling age as I ceaselessly shift through the parable passageways.

     This narrowing passage leads to a ballroom half undone, with walls open to the wind. The slopes and slants are draped by bats and spindly birds, stirring up a misty cloud of smoke. I hear the haunting chimes of cancering hopes, and feel this darkness drip and skuttle across my fears.

     How this emptiness engulfs the grandeur of my former vision, and rapes this night of aspiration. As a somber silence rises, these vaulted beams bound and bend, collapsing into a final shriek of dust and ashes.  And through the unsettled ashen haze I glimpse the fire of her olive gaze, and hear her sweet and somber voice say, “How you are yet undone.” 

     All sound becomes silence...

 

 

Reviews

[Sunflower/Sara Kendrick]

Great imagination from the picture..The picture is kind of dark to me..You have used great descriptive and imagination to tell the tale...Your presence at my work was like a breath of cool air on a hot summer day..Sunflower

[Siddhartha]

this is sheer and pure magic...the poet within you makes this story outstanding...The delicate prose...the subtle rhyming patterns...the rich symbolism and allegory...Magic...Sheer and pure magic...

[E. A. Fielder]

Interesting that it was a story not a poem. E.A. Poe is extremely inspiring for me especially "Dream Within a Dream." Your descriptions are magical and you gave every detail movement. "rose patterns dance on rose walls," "the room seems to unravel..." just to cite a few. I really like how the imagery was done like that. It made me feel like I was moving along side the main character in a dreamy way. It in itself is an inspiration for me!

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

Okay, I will try again and I had such a wonderful review written that got eaten lol

The photograph is beautifully haunting as are all your words.I find these lines telling ....

"Strong hands, yet a weaker heart;

callused eyes with colorless vision.

How each dusted fragment

settles upon my aging view."

Seems as if we are not careful we may awake one day to this ...Your last nine words are so haunting...

" “How you are yet undone.”

All sound becomes silence..."

"How are you yet undone."

Such inspiration you have from " A Dream Within A Dream".
This story is one for the favorites.

Chloe

[Sheila Kline]

Your poetry is always crafted with the skill of a master, and your adaptation of a "Dream Within A Dream" is indeed profound and certainly places you within the same categpry! The descriptions are so vivid that they lead me to this place to experience the emptiness, feel the pangs of remorse, to "hear" the silence!
A truly remarkable piece that is entered into my favorites!!

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

I am reading between the lines and see how some of the things we do in our life that we feel are good weigh heavy on the body that later on may cause life to be cut short. Powerful and intriguing write.

[Robin]

this story is dressed in the silk of dream , the symbolism and descriptives are striking , truly amazing writing ...

[Jenny Nelson]

Wonderful imagery and description. Awesome eerie feel to this. Such a sense of longing and what could have been.

[cfix]

"Strong hands, yet a weaker heart;
callused eyes with colorless vision.
How each dusted fragment
settles upon my aging view."

Such amazing words here, this has an powerful imagery here.
I really enjoyed this story Craig. Very nicely done.

[Tina Kline]

Very vivid and surreal. This really does seem like a dream, strange and mysterious and frightening. I enjoyed reading this a lot.