read write prompt #100: turning dreams into poetry, by celebrity poet bruce covey
by Bruce Covey
 Bruce Covey Explores Dreams and Poetry “The structure of dreams makes for lousy poetry — the associational and tangential but linear structure of the form is so overdetermined.”
Dreams are so entertaining! But the structure of dreams makes for lousy poetry — the associational and tangential but linear structure of the form is so overdetermined (a rhetoric everyone experiences daily, then tries to repress!) that the imagery quickly becomes flat and dull. Or we tend to bring our Freud- and Jung-inspired critical tools into the fray, producing a piece that is tiresomely analytical.
These hurdles, however, don’t require that we abandon our dream lives entirely when writing poems; instead, we might consider rassling one out of its own structure and into an inherently poetic form, out of its visual world and into word.
This prompt (thank you, Dana, for inviting me to participate!) won’t yield a well-honed masterpiece, but the odds are good — if you’re honest with yourself and the text you’re producing — that you’ll create something which sparkles in its own unruly way.
Here goes:
- Bring to mind one of your most vivid dreams (preferably one you haven’t already spent a lot of time analyzing in therapy).
- Choose 8 to 12 “moments” of varying narrative significance from the dream (i.e., one might be a brief flash of an image that seems to have no significance, while another might represent the dream’s central theme) and record them in a numbered list.
- As you develop that numbered list, let each dream moment find its own independence as a separate poetic line; if you have to, spend a day or two or a week or two on each line. During that time, work only on that individual line.
- When you’re finally happy with all of the numbered units as a line of poetry, turn back to the piece as a whole and see if the lines belong in a different order. Play with different potential sequences until you’re happy with the order of the poem (no longer the dream).
- At this point, if you have to, remove the numbers. If you’re really into polish, form them into stanzas, play with line breaks and transitions, remove an overly unruly line or two and add another. Or you can just sit back and revel in your new poem’s messiness.
Here’s one I made recently using this technique. I like to think of it as garnet-speckled rubble. I like rubble.
X=13, Y=21
Where there are coins, there’s matter,
A narrow strip of over 700,000 in this province.
Today the birds are green and the roofs are woven
Of string. You pick the spot, please:
Its zoo built with moment upon moment of cola fountains
(although the one at the center sprouts ginger ale), or
The checkerboard landscape with a single checker making me sweat.
A nest of spiders spins its lines of code — where something is and isn’t —
underneath the netting, the surface para-graph,
A wooden barrel in front of every scrap.
Half kangaroo and half gorilla would be very versatile,
Especially here, where rain has turned the road to muck.
Next to the thicket and upon a rock, my translator
Teaches card tricks to all the babies, changes their diapers.
Later we played an asphalt fight until the killer bees,
Digitally enhanced, came — an extensive natural race
That brings the good in night, its tropical players.
I hope you have fun!
Bruce Covey is the author of three books of poetry, The Greek Gods as Telephone Wires, Elapsing Speedway Organism, and Ten Pins, Ten Frames. His recent poems also appear or are forthcoming in Aufgabe, Verse, LIT, Columbia Poetry Review, Jacket, Sonora Review, Lungfull, Cimarron Review and other journals. He edits the web-based poetry magazine Coconut.
The poem included in this post is shared with permission from the author. Contact Bruce Covey before using or reproducing the piece.
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get the read write poem badge! 
Wear it loud, wear it proud! Display the Read Write Poem badge on your site. Just click here or on the image above to get the code! read write poem news- yes, yes, here’s another virtual book tour stop for ‘a walk through the memory palace’
February 6, 2010 | 11:37 amFind the latest tour stop for Pamela Johnson Parker’s debut collection, A Walk Through the Memory Palace at Jillypoet, Jill Crammond Wickham’s blog, where you can find an interview with Pamela that discusses how she creates manuscripts.
Previous stops include Daniel Romo at his blog, Peyote Soliloquies and James Brush at his blog, Coyote Mercury.
You can find all our plans for the tour here.
- the best of the web is in our ranks
February 6, 2010 | 11:35 amSarah J. Sloat’s poem,”Attending the Tasting” (published in The Literary Bohemian) has been selected for Best of the Web 2010. Congratulations, Sarah!
- another (w00t!) read write poem member on the joe milford poetry show
February 6, 2010 | 11:34 amOn the Joe Milford Poetry Show tomorrow (Feb. 6): W.F. Roby at 9 AM (PST). Find the show here!
Joe describes Will as a “great language poet and bad-ass.”
- ‘literary podcasting made simple with wordpress.com’
February 6, 2010 | 11:33 amDave Bonta has published a how-to article that might be of interest to WordPress users: “Literary Podcasting Made Simple with WordPress.com,” based on his and Beth Adams’ experience at Qarrtsiluni.
Thanks, Dave, for continuing to help make the community aware of technological resources that can expand our art.
- the latest (virtual) book tour stop for ‘a walk through the memory palace’
February 3, 2010 | 3:53 pmThe latest tour stop has been posted for Pamela Johnson Parker’s debut collection, A Walk Through the Memory Palace. Find out how Daniel Romo responded to the work at his blog, Peyote Soliloquies.
James Brush provided our first tour stop at his blog, Coyote Mercury.
You can find all our plans for the tour here.
- planning for napowrimo in april, and you are invited!
February 2, 2010 | 6:12 pmHello, hello dear Read Write Poem community members! We are in the planning stages for NaPoWriMo. (What? Is that a groan I hear, or an excited exclamation?)
We are planning another prompt-every-day for those folks who love to write a daily poem in April (which is, as most of you know, National Poetry Month in the United States — although there is an international following of writing poetry every day in April, too, so it is not just about the States).
Anyway! This is a call for prompts because we want to run your ideas, one every day, in April. So here’s what to do:
- Prompts must be no more than 250 words, and we will take the first 30 that we receive.
- Include “NaPoWriMo Prompt” in the subject line of your email as well as your username (e.g., the name you use when you log in) so we can match you up with your prompt and give you the link love.
- Email your submission (in the body of the email — no attachments please) to prompts (at) readwritepoem (dot) org!
We’ll let you know when we’ve got the 30, but don’t delay because it takes a lot of time to format the posts and we want to be ready come April Fools’ Day. Woohoo!
- new senior contributors at read write poem
February 2, 2010 | 11:51 amWe are thrilled to announce that Ren Powell and Dave Jarecki are moving into the senior contributor role at Read Write Poem. Both have been writing feverishly for the site, as well as providing ideas for content and for the community as a whole. In short, they make this site a more lively, and better, place.
Ren and Dave will fill the roles vacated by Carolee Sherwood and Jill Crammond Wickham, who have moved into the manager role.
Everyone please thank Ren and Dave for their hard work and commitment to Read Write Poem.
- rounding out the virtual book tour of sarah j. sloat’s ‘in the voice of a minor saint’
January 31, 2010 | 1:53 pmOur last stop on the Virtual Book Tour of Sarah J. Sloat’s In the Voice of a Minor Saint is with Ren Powell. Find Ren’s review at More Babel.
Joseph Harker provided our first stop in December, and you can find David Moolten’s review at Edible Detritus. David’s was followed by Dave Jarecki’s. Dave’s review is at his blog. Find Jill Crammond Wickham’s at Jillypoet: Mom Trying to Write.
In case you missed the introduction, we are (virtually) hosting Sarah J. Sloat’s In the Voice of a Minor Saint. For complete tour information, such as how you can get your own copy of the collection or how you can get involved in future tours, read this post.
- make your own book: get off the computer and onto the paper
January 30, 2010 | 4:19 pmBeth Adams has posted her latest project at The Cassandra Pages. “A Handmade Book” may not explicate all the details of bookbinding, but Beth shows readers the “Secret Belgian Binding.” It’s a beautiful as well as inspiring post.
If you would like more detailed instructions, Google “secret Belgian bookbinding” and find sites such as this one. Or look for a local book arts class for hands-on instruction.
As Beth says, ” … it did me good to get away from the computer and feel my hands at work!”
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How can I not worship a poet who says,”spend a day or two or a week or two on each line”? That quote goes into my writing notebook right next to Seamus Heaney. Thank you, Mr. Covey.
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I once brought one of my dream-poems to a poet who knows a lot about dream-poems. She said everything in the dream might be ME. Everything.
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Thank you for this!
About 2 weeks ago I woke up with a comment from a dream reverberating in my brain. I wrote it down. The next day I awoke with another and wrote it down. The third day I awoke with a vivid image from my dream, I wrote it down. I decided that something is in my unconscious trying to get out and, if I have patience, I may end up with a pretty wild darn poem out of it. I actually posted here on the wire asking if anyone had used their dreams for poetry.
I’m not sure I’ll have anything by next Thursday, though. We’ll see.
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BTW – the link to Coconut doesn’t work.
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Nathan replied:
November 6th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
The link should be working now, Zouxzoux.
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Thanks, Nathan. I found it thru the wunnerful Bing! Awesome site, great poetry.
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Sounds like an interesting poetic experience, although I must say , not one tailored to my interests, I seldom if ever recall any of my dreams. I think it will make for some fun, wacky reading. Great idea but perhaps the next prompt might be more up my alley.
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I really hope poets will rally to this challenge. No, it isn’t easy to recall your dreams but my suggestion is to keep a notebook by your bed. When you first wake up, jot down what you remember. The first few moments are *really* important.
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Paul Oakley replied:
November 10th, 2009 at 12:50 am
I know a beautiful old woman, now suffering deterioration from Alzheimer’s, for whom dream work was very important. Me, I only extremely rarely am even aware that I have dreamed. When I am aware I have dreamed, the content is only a big static-y question mark with sparks flying off it for a few seconds before dying completely.
I don’t remember a single dream in the 25 years since, at age 24, the 15 years of the same recurring nightmare came to an end. That one repeating nightmare provided the basis for my full theology and philosophy of life, as well as my understanding of art. I don’t have room for any more dreams.
As for my waking rituals, let’s just say they do not include jotting anything in a notebook.
In any case, I haven’t decided yet how to handle this prompt. I don’t want to ignore it, but I can’t follow it either. So…
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[...] Read Write Poem prompt #100, Bruce Covey invites us to play with our dreams. Visit the site for complete instructions on this [...]
Here is is – In the Quad
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tamrahays replied:
November 12th, 2009 at 5:33 am
That’s “here IT is.” :-\
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tamrahays replied:
November 12th, 2009 at 5:34 am
Oops. Posted in the wrong place. Sorry.
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[...] In an attempt at something like the spirit, if not the letter of the prompt [...]
[...] With Read Write Prompt #100 poet Bruce Covy challenged us to write a poem inspired or mined from our dreams. I was excited by this prompt because only a week or so earlier I had awakened from a dream with a phrase echoing in my head and I felt compelled to write it down. It became the first line in this poem. Each line thereafter has come from a phrase or image remembered from a subsequent nights’ dream. This is really a departure from my usual style of writing so I’m quite anxious to hear what y’all think. Japanese Plum Blossom from my back garden ~ 2008 [...]