Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Tuesday Slice: The gap

 

I am dreaming

In the bathroom
there is a gap
between the floor and the wall
A sizeable one
maybe six inches deep,
a foot wide

I am not too surprised.
We live in an old house
and it is a dream, after all--
I know this.

What I don't expect
is the large snake--
wait, make that two snakes--
sleeping in the gap
 
I can't see their heads
only yellowish gray scales
(is there even a pattern?)
rainforest-constrictor-type-bodies
except for

one   huge    rattle
as big as my hand
its light tan segments silently still.

I am calmly afraid, if
being calmly afraid is possible.

Leaving the bathroom, 
I quietly close the door and
inform my husband, who carefully
stuffs an old bedspread 
into the gap
over the snakes
and calls a guy.

It's just a dream, after all.


Of course, I had to look up the meaning of rattlesnakes in dreams as I wrote my morning page.  Heeding warnings and boundaries, warning others before strike were the first interpretations...but they didn't make sense, since the snakes were sleeping.  Tackling problems by trusting gut instincts, and the presence of spirits close enough to sense and almost touch--now that seems more apropos.  

6 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing! What are YOUR associations with snakes? What do they make you think of - independent of the guide?

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    1. In real life, I have a healthy respect for snakes. We've had a few on our property, but never one in the house (except for the blind teeny ones that come in through the vents sometimes). If this scenario happened, I would be freaked out. This dream makes me think of the goals I need to tackle, problems I need to solve that aren't necessarily dangerous, but really need to be addressed.

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  2. Your dream turns into a poem -quick thinking, Chris. I have waken from dreams everyday lately and it is eerie being in the present but really still being in the nightmare world. I am not sure what these dream signify other than stress mounting but I do like that yours might be "Tackling problems by trusting gut instincts."

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    1. Oh, Carol, I'm sorry your dreams have been nightmares! This one wasn't, really; I woke up calm and perplexed, instead. I was shocked by the lucidity of it all; I very rarely experience that with my infrequently-remembered dreams.

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  3. Dreams fascinate me, as you know. This one is so vivid and I can actually understand bring calmly afraid... to me this is an example of how you logically think though situations with wise problem-solving. Snakes are also symbols of wisdom. That silent rattle, not issuing warning, seems a very good sign! Let sleeping snakes lie!

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    1. I was shocked by how vivid it was, Fran, and how even two days later I can remember the details clearly. Your comment about letting sleeping snakes lie, leads me to think about how I immediately went to get help from my husband (who then called for professional help). Maybe I am needing help with my problems, and need to get out of my independent comfort zone and ask...That might be the wisest move of all.

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