Bad day at Slate Creek
My Story: A stake in two cultures & a passion for good

Dream with me

The heavens (ABC)WARDLEY BARRY

An entry in the 2016 Crocodile Prize

Dream with me,
When I dream that I twinkle among stars,
Or skip with sweet cherubs from moon to moon;
When I spread my wings and glide through rainbows,
Catching gold teardrops of gods in my hand,
Or rollick and romp where night and day blend;
When I gaily farewell stalking shadows,
And watch them disappear into poltroons;
When I spark in Elysian Fields on Mars,
Dream with me.

When I wander through bone-chilling waters,
Dream with me.
You might find me besides the sea watching
The waves break tenderly on the seashore,
Or lying on the sand staring at the sky;
You might see glints of the moon in my eyes,
And, in my heart, hear thunder's raging roar.
When you see pretty birds refuse to sing,
Dream with me.
The sun oft rises when no one bothers.

Sometimes when I lie down rain comes falling
On my head, and they trickle down my face.
Dream with me,
On those days when roses refuse to bloom,
And crimson petals shrivel and fall dead;
When the diamonds we laced fall from their thread,
And there is no burning lamp in our room.
Dream with me,
When I lie in the cesspool of disgrace,
Reaching up to the stars while still drowning.

Even if my destiny becomes doom
—The rivers flood and mercilessly sweep
Away darling scents of rosa la france,
Dream with me.
Angry tides may carry off all my dreams,
And all that remains are but tearful streams.
Dream with me,
Even when the rainbows lose their romance,
And sweet lullabies recall restless sleep,
And glory's light becomes shadows of gloom.

Sometimes all you might hear are awful screams
Jutting desperately out from my bones;
Sometimes ghosts may haunt where I plant my feet,
But even if I cleave to nothing, just
Dream with me.
Dream with me.
Even if dreams don't last and become dust;
For sometimes, dreams take us where glories meet
Goons, and putrid scums become precious stones,
And we'll live our dreams, while dreaming more dreams.

__________

This poetic form is an Igivisan Chiasm. It’s reverse or inverted rhyming scheme is inspired by a Hebrew literary pattern known as chiasm in which several parallel markers are placed at the beginning and ending and so on until the reader is pointed to the centre of the writing. A chiasm most often appears in the form:

A

            B

                        C

                        C’

            B’

A’

Comments

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Peter Jokisie

Awesome (:

Wardley Barry

Vikki, is that Bob or Ziggy Marley? Haven't listened to that for a while. Cheers!

Wardley Barry

Thanks Michael. You're an inspiration.

Michael Dom

That is an interesting form and a lovely poem in it. Well done.

Vikki John


"Is This Love"

I wanna love you and treat you right;
I wanna love you every day and every night:
We'll be together with a roof right over our heads;
We'll share the shelter of my single bed;
We'll share the same room, yeah! - for Jah provide the bread.
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'?
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'?
I wanna know - wanna know - wanna know now!
I got to know - got to know - got to know now!

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I - I'm willing and able,
So I throw my cards on your table!
I wanna love you - I wanna love and treat - love and treat you right;
I wanna love you every day and every night:
We'll be together, yeah! - with a roof right over our heads;
We'll share the shelter, yeah, oh now! - of my single bed;
We'll share the same room, yeah! - for Jah provide the bread.

Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'?
Is this love - is this love - is this love -
Is this love that I'm feelin'?
Wo-o-o-oah! Oh yes, I know; yes, I know - yes, I know now!
Yes, I know; yes, I know - yes, I know now!

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I - I'm willing and able,
So I throw my cards on your table!
See: I wanna love ya, I wanna love and treat ya -
love and treat ya right.
I wanna love you every day and every night:
We'll be together, with a roof right over our heads!
We'll share the shelter of my single bed;

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