Tuesday, February 19, 2008

fever dreams

It's the old nightmare, the door with too many keys, the allusion you missed, the exam you didn't study for, the word on the tip of your tongue. And if, for once, there's a party, wineglass watermarks overlapping, napkins crumpled in every hand, your observation on the number of couples or the size of the room goes unremarked and you mouth excuses, look for something in the kitchen. It's the whir, the buzz, the electric rain, the ostinato drum-drum-drumming. It's the pattern of cracks on the crazed Dutch tiles. It's the sound of the bell, it's the end of the line. And when you wake up, sweat-soaked, coughing, It's the thin, glass feel of the thermometer as it's pressed to the choke in your throat.

21 comments:

christina(apronstrings) said...

yikes! i hope you feel much better very soon.
take care, friend.
xoxoxo

Anonymous said...

I'm breathless after those images, and in awe of how easily word art flows out of you.

cinnamon gurl said...

The words you can spin with a fever! Hope you feel better soon.

Rachel said...

Feel better soon!

Aurelia said...

This sounds exactly like I just felt while driving home...damn you are good.

Get better soon.

Anonymous said...

how the hell you manage to be so beautiful when you feel so crappy is beyond me.

sending love

Amelie said...

Your feverish writing is amazing, but of course I hope you can leave it behind soon.

Julie Pippert said...

A poem that pounds and affects.

Get well soon wishes.

Anonymous said...

I hope you feel better soon!

Magpie said...

It could be the lyrics to a song.

Feel better.

Tash said...

Crap, I hate those. An overwhelming number of my dreams, the good, the odd, and the nightmares, take place in my "childhood home," or, the interpretation thereof in my subconscious. I always find that amusing and disturbing. Anyway, more of that soup. A bath. And feel better soon.

Which Box said...

How odd what Tash just wrote, my dreams also take place in my childhood home. I wonder what that means.

She's right, more soup, more rest, more feeling better soon, I hope.

And everyone else is right, I wish I wrote, when relatively sane and healthy, stuff that was half as compelling as you write when fevered.

CLC said...

feel better soon..

Anonymous said...

I hope you are feeling better soon.

Unknown said...

You paint such pictures with your words. I hope you feel better soon. My dreams also take place in my childhood home...

Aunt Becky said...

I'm sorry, darlin'. Feel better soon.

This winter seems to have a particularly virulent strain of virus's going around.

Julia said...

This does not sound good, not at all. Feel better soon.
Soup sounds like a good idea. And tea with raspberry jam and lemon. Still coughing myself. I think I am going to go make some tea now.

E. Phantzi said...

Feel better soon...
...and don't stop writing

Anonymous said...

There are times, my dear, when you are so very, very poetic, even when under the weather. Puts me quite to shame ;)

Get well soon. XXXX

KH99 said...

Amazing post. Get well soon.

LIW (Lady In Waiting) said...

That's a great description of the feelings that accompany nightmares with the characteristics you list. I have an academic-related nightmare at least once a week. One would think that my subconscious would have resolved this issue long ago. Since it hasn't, I can relate to this post quite well.

XOXO