The Lynx

A dream I had...

I’m standing on a glorified raft.

Call it my deck.

The house on the dune sinks into the caramel hill and

Rotates instead of the earth, like one of those

Spinney restaurants, so inland mountains swallow us up.

 

The roof used to be yellow, but now it’s grey.

The walls have shingles and there’s a plank in the deck that’s

Gen Z, where I dropped a rock in ’98 or so.

A cat circles, and another, one orange and one spotted.

 

The house wrenches out of itself in a scraping anchor’s bellow, a clock

Folding in on itself,

Seasons tearing, fast-forwarding like

Decaying fox footage on a VHS and locking me in

Bay-less irons.

The driftwood begins to rot and shift and slip, the bulging ginger Buddha-cat claws 

and flails like plastic cheddar off a toddler’s kitchen

And I dive to frame him on the rocky dune like an

Underthrown pass on AstroTurf.

He’s limp, but time creeps backwards now, and

‘I’ll build this house again for you, Mom’, I tell her.

The spotted leopard cat hides.

 

The stars on the deck emulsify in an Australian barbeque nebula,

A lion’s warning breath, a bio-toxin peppered wind.

Red orbs loom; staggered, undead Orion of

Setting suns. Then the

Foam and intergalactic fog fade in a kaleidoscope’s curtain call, right as

The spotted leopard cat slinks under the deck,

Pelt bristling into a mane in waves that’s purer than that nighttime season. Divine

And distant.

The house shifts and the entire bay folds away like an eclipse.

 

I

Can’t see the sky anymore,

I run counter to the ancient ruin, which

Shimmers like a catalogue in Roman moonlight.

I come out on the other side, and

It’s a whole new view of Lynx and Leo.

The leopard cat approaches.

 

At his feet rests a piece of rock, a

A limestone eraser. 

On it a grasshopper spits a seed, drawn over and over like in a

Flipbook cartoon.

He looks me in the eye and bows his head. He breathes.

It’s too easy.

Then it crumbles, and it’s what I needed, and I know

He’s written there.

 

But then my brother says it’s the nature of the stone to crumble, and the cat

Can’t talk.

Author's Note

My loyalty here is to the dream - not to any style

Reviews

[Bluefire]

It was certainly written like a bizarre dream, it made me think of the stars and space and the sea in a sort of fantasy like world where anything is possible but there is also danger. It was a lot like and adventure and life, promises and brokenness in a forbidden world, for once the dream is over, you don't know if you'll ever get to go back.
A+++

[Chloe]

There was a lot of feeling in this piece. Amazing work!

[What Was]

Believe me when I say, style can fall by the wayside for your poem! It paints fantastic picture, and structure is quite sound in my eyes. Splendid work!

[Beedlethebard]

You have a talent for imagery. While your poetry is excellent, I feel that it would be better suited for prose. Poetic prose is so wonderful if one can pull it off. Other than that I have nothing left to say. Very impressive.

[Thaddius]

I agree with you completely. You know, I actually transcribed this dream into prose. I think and ramble and free associate in a way that lets shapes fill in over long periods of time, subconsciously... I think the longer forms are more for me. Poetry is a quick fix though!

[Beedlethebard]

Hahah poetry to an author is what doodling is to a painter. Or it is sometimes at least.

[Thaddius]

hahaha I can't believe I've never heard that. How elitist!

[Beedlethebard]

It does sound elitist but like I said it's not always true. I hope to be a poet one day but I use prose for my literary doodles.

[Thaddius]

Naw of course it isn't. It's like comparing an episode of Freaks and Geeks to a John Hughes movie. I'm not gonna use the fruit analogy, because orchards and groves are at odds in my mind.

[Beedlethebard]

Ohh nooo I didn't mean it like that. An artist doesn't realize he has talent if he doesn't doodle. What I was trying to say was that an author would use poetry the way a poet would use prose or a painter would use doodling.

[Elina]

Wow! Your imagery is fantastic; the entire thing formed so effortlessly in my mind, thanks to your expert choices of words. This is wonderful.

[Thaddius]

Thanks for the read! Just holla' when you want a review and I'll be there. Glad it worked for you

[Elina]

Anytime! And thank you for offering your opinions...they are very appreciated. I rather thrive on the critiques of others.

[rottinghexgrl]

This is marvelous. I love how much detail you put into setting the scene before you started the "real" story

[Thaddius]

thanks. i just finished it 2 minutes ago!