3 DREAM SEQUENCES, Hurricane Ridge journal, Elwah River

Dream sequence number one

I'm standing facing downstream
I'm standing in the stream of a metaphor
The river is a metaphor of life
Cats teeth almost as tall as my waist
The river becomes a thin sheet
it stretches and snags on the cats teeth
so dazzlingly white, enough to blind you.


Dream sequence number two

I wake up. It's clear and beautiful out.
Second sunny day in Washington since April.
We brought the sun with us from California.
I think either I'm dead and that's heaven –
Washington when it's sunny,
or our luck held and we will get to go
up Hurricane Ridge in sunlight.


Dream sequence number three

I'm with my friend, Pam.
She's wearing one of my dresses.
We are both about seven years old
except we're really 28 and 33.
Her dress is navy blue.
Her birthday is June 28.
Queen Victoria or Queen Elizabeth
are coming to visit us.
I'm sitting on Lee's lap
and he holds me close.
We're having a spelling bee
like old times and relatives abound.
Lee drops his arms.
The queen has arrived.
The royal We.


Tomorrow I will take Pam and Michael to the plane. Then I'm on my way without a planned destination. My friends on Vashon Island don't seem to answer their phone. Pam's birthday is June 28. I have a sunburn from Hurricane Ridge. Lake Crescent is enormous. There are log snags along its shores. Pam wants to water ski on it. It looks too cold. It's like Falling Leaf Lake in Tahoe. Deep, dark, treacherous.

Michael and Leo used to live in Grass Valley. They got busted in the first major grass raid in California. I remember hearing about in 1972. It really does become a smaller world. I just met Leo three days ago and Michael I've known for two years.

I got mad when Pam fed most of our food to the deer on Hurricane Ridge. It looks so diseased. Aren't we tampering with its natural life cycle enough even though what we feed it is healthy food? The deer began to eat Michael's pants. It must be the salt. Later, at the Elwah River, we saw normal deer who ran away from people. It made me feel so much better to see the balance restored.