Cramp

[ampoule]

Cramp

You tried to wake me,
Yes, you were close to it,
As I lulled around in dream sleep,
Stretching far too far,
Peeking between the blinds,
A robed man approaching,
Dust at his feet,
Should I fetch a basin of water,a rag,
No time,
This nard, this hair, enough, or too too,

I kneel feeling the leftover pain in my calf,
So real I await the knock at the door.

ampoule, March Ninth, TwoThousandNine

[PrinceMyshkin]

There is never anything less than life in your poems, dear friend, life lived, life feared, and above all - life embraced!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Bumping this in the hope that it gets a few more of the responses it deserves.

[SleepyWitch]

I'd like to respond but I'm not sure I understand the poem

[Virgil]

I like it Amp. It draws me in, an effect of drawing me into your sleep or dream. I assume it was a sort of mixing of conscious and dream states and the man (do I jump to a rash conclusion if he strikes me as Christ?) entering and disturbing the narrator, a man who is either a dream figure or a real flesh and blood figure that I cannot tell. I did find this line confusing: "This nard, this hair, enough, or too too." "Too too?" I don't know what that's supposed to mean or allude to.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I like it Amp. It draws me in, an effect of drawing me into your sleep or dream. I assume it was a sort of mixing of conscious and dream states and the man (do I jump to a rash conclusion if he strikes me as Christ?) entering and disturbing the narrator, a man who is either a dream figure or a real flesh and blood figure that I cannot tell. I did find this line confusing: "This nard, this hair, enough, or too too." "Too too?" I don't know what that's supposed to mean or allude to.

Although I will eagerly await Ampoule's answer to your question re Christ, on re-reading the poem, I feel decidedly stupid for having missed that. As for the "too too" I could venture a guess that she might be questioning her presumption in thinking that she might be fit to minister to or be ministered to by Christ? The "nard," if you did not recognize it, might be short for the spikenard plant.

[~Sophia~]

Hi ampoule! My read was a bit different than Virgil and Prince. I thought the poem was about the narrator trying to make sense of a dream she had. The whole correlation to Mary Magdalene, sinner forgiven? I have no idea whether that was your intention but it doesn't matter. I thoroughly enjoyed reading! (ps... stole your avatar for a few hours on Friday...forgiven? lol)

[firefangled]

Cramp

You tried to wake me,
Yes, you were close to it,
As I lulled around in dream sleep,
Stretching far too far,
Peeking between the blinds,
A robed man approaching,
Dust at his feet,
Should I fetch a basin of water,a rag,
No time,
This nard, this hair, enough, or too too,

I kneel feeling the leftover pain in my calf,
So real I await the knock at the door.

ampoule, March Ninth, TwoThousandNine

I have always said you are a master at these mysterious poems and this is no exception. I may be way off, but what struck me on the first read was the similarity of this to Jacob wrestling with the angel. I'm also perplexed wih the words "too, too" though. I read it as too also, which makes me see "enough" as a question.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. It did take me into that netherworld between sleep and wakefulness.

[SleepyWitch]

(do I jump to a rash conclusion if he strikes me as Christ?)

that's what I thought, too, but I wasn't sure because I don't know that much about Christianity.
yeah, what's a nard?

[a_little_wisp]

Cramp

You tried to wake me,
Yes, you were close to it,
As I lulled around in dream sleep,
Stretching far too far,
Peeking between the blinds,
A robed man approaching,
Dust at his feet,
Should I fetch a basin of water,a rag,
No time,
This nard, this hair, enough, or too too,

I kneel feeling the leftover pain in my calf,
So real I await the knock at the door.

ampoule, March Ninth, TwoThousandNine

I think it's about being in that warm place between sleep and awake, and that place is strange in that the modern world mixes with things past, in which we are vaguely in-touch with the physical world, yet still desperately attached to the dreams. When she stretches the dreamer gets a charley horse? (I'm actually suggesting that in all seriousness). And I'm thinking the man is Christ, yes (Oh gawd, I'm gonna feel stupid?). I agree with Prince about the spikenard plant.

However, as I'm not a Christian, I'm nervous about saying anymore for fear that I'm going to sound really, really, lame.

OH! - I really like the mystery of the piece! You write so beautifully, ampoule- the flow leaves me breathless, and the subject leaves me to ponder on. It's a poem that seeps into you, and becomes endless, because it keeps it you wondering.

[PrinceMyshkin]

I think it's about being in that warm place between sleep and awake, and that place is strange in that the modern world mixes with things past, in which we are vaguely in-touch with the physical world, yet still desperately attached to the dreams. When she stretches the dreamer gets a charley horse? (I'm actually suggesting that in all seriousness). And I'm thinking the man is Christ, yes (Oh gawd, I'm gonna feel stupid?). I agree with Prince about the spikenard plant.

However, as I'm not a Christian, I'm nervous about saying anymore for fear that I'm going to sound really, really, lame.

Surely there is room in Christianity for the lame?

But regarding the question whether the figure is Christ or some unidentified other, I propose that Christ existed/exists in some realm that transcends the hard & fast distinction between dream and "reality," a realm that a secularist might call "myth" (but I use that term without the least intention to be pejorative). Thus, to a true believer or even to one merely inclined to believe, to encounter Christ in a dream is actually to be with Him; and to see, sense, hear or speak with Him in a state of wakefulness is to be reminded that life is but a vivid dream or what Buddhists call "Maya."

[ampoule]

Prince, thank you so much for rousing people to comment. I have found them, the comments, well, heck, the people, too, all so interesting and I am grateful for any compliments given.

It's true littlewisp, I did dream that I got a cramp in my leg and could not wake up to get up and take care of it. My leg was sore for a couple of days.

I wondered about the guy walking in robes also. The ground is frozen solid around here so there certainly isn't any dust. This past Sunday I sang special music at a Pentecostal-type church, one of those churches that preaches over and over about the end times and how near they are and you better be ready, where the preacher is constantly asking you to raise your hand if you believe in this or that. It was very different for me, a somewhat reserved Methodist. As I interpreted my own dream that man in robes did eventually become a Jesus figure to me. I was taught that in Biblical times, when someone came to your home it was the cordial thing to do to offer a basin of water and a towel for them to wash the dust off their feet. Some believe that Mary Magdalene was the woman who broke the alabaster jar that held the precious 'perfume' to annoint Jesus and there are detailed commentaries about the woman who washed and dried Jesus' feet with her hair. Both of those instances are extremely meaningful to me but sometimes when I read that passage I find myself thinking that is just 'too too' like, too much. But, given the opportunity, I would do it.