The Stories of My Dreams

by Tamara Madison


I don’t even know the stories
of my own dreams;
they’re more obscure to me
than the names of the trees
in these unfamiliar woods,

as unknown and unseen 
as the workings of my pancreas
and spleen, as hidden  
as the wildlife that moves  
through the tall grass
beyond the pines. I know better

the faces of the four deer
that gathered by the fence
last evening than I know
the dreams that roamed
the brambles of last night’s
sleep, for the deer stared 
through my lighted window,
lifted white tails, turned
and quickly stepped away;

my dreams dispersed between
the thunder and the rain,
leaving nothing in their wake – 
no crumb, no clue, not even
hoof prints cradling the dew.

                       
* * * * *

"The Stories of My Dreams" first appeared in Cholla Needles and is part of Tamara Madison's new book, Morpheus Dips His Oar.

Tamara Madison is the author of three full-length poetry collections, Wild Domestic and Moraine (Pearl Editions), and two chapbooks, The Belly Remembers (Pearl Editions) and Along the Fault Line (Picture Show Press). A swimmer and a dog lover, she is a native of the California desert, but she has lived and traveled in many places. She is recently retired from teaching English and French in a high school in Los Angeles. Her new collection of poems, Morpheus Dips His Oar, is just out from Sheila-Na-Gig Press. Read more about her at tamaramadisonpoetry.com