The Dreamverse Project
Why Dreamverses? Well, I'd been reading famous poets, and they uninspired me. Their dreams are few and dull, and if they do write up a dream, they're stunned the goose of sleep laid one golden egg. So they title their lone dreampoem My Dream or A Dream--never Cows in Space or Doorknob Orgasm or whatever it's about, as they would for any other topic.
So in Dreamverses I treated dreams as real experiences worth telling. That means I've stuck to the dream-facts. These aren't poems inspired by dreams; they're dreams told as poems. As narratives, not lyrics, their style may be prosaic. But my dreams are baroque, even bizarre; I didn't want to gild the octopus.
Would I recommend dreamversing to other writers? Yes. But gear it to your available time, energy and recall. I started out at one a day, but that was brutal--I needed way more time to polish. I paused for months, midway; in the end it took five days per poem.
Still, I was amazed how enthusiastically my dreams co-operated with the project: a flash-flood of short vivid wild dreams just begging to be written up as poems. It ebbed politely when I began rewrites, and ended with a bang...
My conclusion? Dreams aren't passive ore, but collaborative partners.
RELATED TOPICS: Roswila's dreamku - dream poetry in general - dreamwork in general - creativity - art experiments - See also the full INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
What this site is - Add your dreams! - How to read blurbs - Ratings - Copyright - Downloading - The World Dream Bank has 4000+ dreams plus 1000 more pages on dreamwork, shamanism, surrealism, fantasy, worldbuilding, creativity and genius. Site © Chris Wayan 2001-2022.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: by Wayan; 2004/5/20, a dreampoem; Dreamverse #0.. I meet a monster--half earthworm, half giraffe. Then I realize she's kind of cute... |
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LEMON PEOPLE: by Wayan; 2008/8/11, a dream poem; Dreamverse #1. A dream-fable of lemons who are really orange-people infected by a spore turns out to be about me... |
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FOX-MOTHER: by Wayan; 2008/8/12, a dream poem; Dreamverse #2. The goddess of the Cult of Clutter catches a little thief, and tastes her to see if she's worthy... |
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SHY NO MORE: by Wayan; 2008/8/13. A dream poem, Dreamverse #3 I play the lovers in a teen romance: shy abused boy, insecure girl. But I get tired of the script, and... CAUTION: LANGUAGE |
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THE DOCTOR KILLS A TERN: by Wayan; 1988/9/24. A dream poem, Dreamverse #4 Dr Who kills his best friend, a huge white tern, on a whim. Furious, I demand a rewrite... CAUTION: WANTON MURDER |
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12 SWALLOWS, 700 DAUGHTERS: by Wayan; 1972/10/14, a dream poem on compassion; Dreamverse #5 Alchemy demands I kill ten swallows. I refuse! Instead, twelve birds and I fuse and fly over a magic wood... |
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ANIMAL HEAVEN: by Wayan; 2008/8/16, an astral dream-poem; Dreamverse #6. At a party in Animal Heaven, I fall for a rabbit-girl doomed to be human dinner. But how can I rescue her? I'm Fate's part-time intern! CAUTION: BREASTS, BEASTS, INCOMPETENT ANGEL OF DEATH |
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CROC BOY: by Wayan; 2008/8/17, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #7. I visit a witch-smeller, who judges apprentice shamans. But when a boy dreams he's a crocodile, she freaks out... |
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DAD'S DATES: by Wayan; 2008/8/17, a dream poem, Dreamverse #8. After my mom's death, my dad starts dating again, while I hide out and wince. Can't I do anything positive? |
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JELLY REBELLION: by Wayan; 2008/8/19, a poem of a diagnostic dream, Dreamverse #9 I interview my own metabolism. Trouble in Cellville! I've got strikers and usurpers. But at least no invaders... |
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NOT OUR HAWAI'I: by Wayan; 2008/8/20, a dream poem; Dreamverse #10 My sister & I swim round a weirdly shrunken Pacific. Near Fiji, we blunder too close to the drain... |
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SURF THE SAN ANDREAS: by Wayan; 2008/8/21, 3 short dreampoems, Dreamverse #11 Through twin gates of dream--not ivory and horn any more, but fear and trust... Three castles on the sea: a Mock Kremlin, a Ship of Toiletpaper, and a Ship of Brick and Beer... A mad old surfer of the San Andreas Fault, impossibly riding earth-change... |
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SLEEPERS ALL: by Wayan; 2008/8/22, a dream poem, Dreamverse #12 I dream I'm an insomniac trapped in a flat full of snoring writers and reporters. Wait a minute... |
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KISS THE CATS: by Wayan; 2008/8/23, a dream poem, Dreamverse #13 I have to kiss a mess of cats. Fishy, but I'm not chicken. My real beef is with the humans watching... |
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LARRY'S MULTIVERSE: by Wayan; 2008/2/16, a dream poem, Dreamverse #14 My shamanic teacher lures me into a labyrinth ruled by wizards whose magic-monopoly's about to fall... |
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SAW HER IN HALF?: by Wayan; 2008/8/28, a warning dream-poem, Dreamverse #15 A sorceror's apprentice describes a medical procedure her teacher plans. Yow! I sure wouldn't trust anyone to try that on ME... CAUTION: TALK OF BLOOD AND SEX |
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CUTENESS PAGEANT: by Wayan; 2008/8/29, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #16. I'm trapped in a cute cartoon universe! Worse, to judge this beauty contest, I have to see past our style to our souls... |
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FETAL PAUSE: by Wayan; 2008/8/31, a nightmare-poem, Dreamverse #17 As I write a sad sex dream, a madman curls up fetally in the road outside my window. I'm slow to call 9-1-1, and... |
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ANCIENT MARE-KIN GRAVEYARD: by Wayan; 2008/9/1, a dreamsong (MP3+lyrics), Dreamverse #18 I'm a ghost watching future archeologists dig up a site of my people--and get it so wrong... |
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TIME-BUBBLE: by Wayan; 2008/9/1, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #19 In a city crawling across a marshy world, I find a detonating bomb frozen in a time-ball. Why not detonate it somewhere harmless, why carry this around? |
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SORB TRUCE: by Wayan; 2008/9/1, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #20 In a desert crawling with aliens who can absorb your mind, I propose a truce, and gain... |
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INCEST IMPROV: by Wayan; 2005/6/13, a flying-dream poem, Dreamverse #21 Improv-dancing with my sister, I get turned on. But then a repressed Asian girl joins our dance, and... CAUTION: INCEST MENTIONED. OOPS, TOO LATE. |
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BLUEBEARD DRAG: by Wayan; 2008/9/5, a creepy dream-poem, Dreamverse #22 On the waterfront, I meet a seductive girl. Well, guy. Well, serial killer. Um, I think I'll leave now... CAUTION: HOMOPHOBIA OR SURVIVAL INSTINCT? |
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SMALL MIRACLES: by Wayan; 2008/9/7, two dream-poems (Tiny Scientists and Barberry); Dreamverse #23 Things start materializing in my house: first three tiny naked scientists, then a huge impossible fruit... CAUTION: NUDE SCIENTISTS |
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INVOKE THE ANIMAL POWERS (or was it PROVOKE?): by Wayan; 2008/9/9, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #24 A children's recital of "Where the Wild Things Are" turns into a riot-orgy. And it feels... political? CAUTION: WILD THING ORGY |
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AIRACUDA: by Wayan; 2008/9/9, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #25 The jeweled fish over San Francisco grew and grew until it landed and the crew told me the secret code... |
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BIRDS ON FIRE: by Wayan; 2008/9/15, a political dream-poem, Dreamverse #26 George Bush leads a hill-tribe raid against the hill-tribe led by Osama bin Laden... and I'm stuck between... CAUTION: ANTI-HEROES, POLITICAL PREDICTION |
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THE MOOMIN COMMISSIONERS OF TIME: by Wayan; 2008/9/17, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #27 A new Eve asks the Time Commission to send her and her baby back to Ethiopia 45,000 years ago. But they're shy Moomintrolls, not humans... |
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ETNA-SHASTA, or, GROOM YOUR OWN FEATHERS: by Wayan; 2008/9/18, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #28 On a volcano's rim, watching the lava fountains, I interview a huge blue alien bird who never planned to be a monk... |
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KING KONG CRAB: by Wayan; 2008/9/20, a dream poem; Dreamverse #29 One wizardry-classmate summons strange beings; another's learned how not to. Because some things need to be dealt with alone, where they can't harm...... |
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INDUSTRY'S SHORE: by Wayan; 2008/9/24, a dream poem; Dreamverse #30 In the hills above a polluted shore, I find hidden valleys with huge rare trees, and realize it's my choice... |
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HAMM: by Wayan; 2008/9/26, a dream poem; Dreamverse #31 A lecturer tries to help the homeless founder of Hamm's Beer, robbed by bankers. But the talk may harm more than help... |
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OH, WAIT: by Wayan; 2008/10/3, an illustrated dream poem; Dreamverse #32 I'm a spy tracking down coinlike bombs. Fighting a double agent, I fall in love! So I suggest her gang rob golden-parachute bankers... CAUTION: POOLSIDE SEX |
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MY POETIC LICENSE: by Wayan; 2008/10/5, a self-referencing dream poem; Dreamverse #33 Renewing one's life has its costs. What if you can't pay the price? A dreamlet of warning and shame... |
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PRAISE THE DANCING GOONS: by Wayan; 2008/10/16, a dream-poem: Dreamverse 34 Three big tap-dancing kidnappers is too many to fight. So I try admiring their kidnapping technique... |
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WHOSE DREAM WAS IT?: by Wayan; 2008/10/18, a nested-dream poem, Dreamverse #35. I'm a Chinese kid fleeing the Japanese Occupation in 1938. As we near San Francisco, I wake to find it's all my dad's dream. Wait--he's alive again? But he was never a refugee. Is it a pastlife memory? If so, whose--his or mine? |
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THE CHAPARRAL OF TIME: by Wayan; 2008/10/21, a timetravel dream-poem: Dreamverse #36 I snorkel over time-reefs to an era of talking animals--but why crash on the head of rocker Suzi Quatro? |
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TEETH IN HIS THIGH: by Wayan; 2008/10/30, an embarrassing dream-poem: Dreamverse #37 The Conference on Love has two sexy speakers. One says "my teacher's stalking me" but she clings to him. Love? Hate? Both? CAUTION: EXHIBITIONISM--but what are these two exhibiting? |
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DRUGGED, SHRUNK AND DAUBED: by Wayan; 2008/11/1, a dream-poem (Dreamverse #38) I'm worried an alien charity is brainwashing an ex-prostitute. When I wake, she's still there--at 2/5 scale!... |
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DISCARDS: by Wayan; 2008/3/24, a rap heard in a dream--Dreamverse #39 A Marin girl finds a dirty secret in the school library--they discard the unpopular. She kinda identifies with the discarded books. And discarded people... |
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MUSICIAN AND FOXTAIL, by Wayan, 2009/2/14, a dream-poem, Dreamverse #40 In Palo Alto I meet strange musicians in the rain, and realize kitsune aren't born but made... |
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VIDEO WOLVES: by Wayan; 2009/2/23, a dreamsong (MP3+lyrics), Dreamverse #41 Robot wolves with videocamera eyes prowl our block, freezing me in their headlight glare. Why do I think one's my ex-girlfriend? |
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RETARDED STARS, by Wayan, 2009/2/28; a dream-poem, Dreamverse #42 A horde of demented dwarves invades Market Street, jumping up & down, shaking the skyscrapers... |
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HER LOVELY AWKWARD SYNTH, by Wayan, 2009/3/9; a dream-poem, Dreamverse #43 A musical prodigy has a gorgeous, unplayable keyboard. But serious creativity takes a dull, regular, ergonomic instrument... |
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THE TIGER WHEEL, by Wayan, 2009/4/25; a dream-poem, Dreamverse #44 A tiger-couple on an ice floe must choose: swim for land, or ride the current full circle back home, risking starvation? |
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ORE PIRATES, by Wayan, 2009/5/29; a dream-poem, Dreamverse #45 I'm in a movie version of prehistoric Baja California, mining nuggets that howl, when pterodactyl-worshiping pirates glide in trying to snatch our ore... |
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JOE COOL IN FINANCIAL HELL: by Wayan; 2009/6/15; Dreamverse #46 When the school district goes bankrupt, students flee creditors into a hell-cave. But Joe Cool can skateboard even on lava in the Pit... |
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GALLEY SLAVE: by Wayan; 2008/11/27, a punning career-advice dream; Dreamverse #47 Shipwrecked and claimed as salvage on Crete, Ed the writer became a dishwashing slave! In contrast, Marie the musician... |
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FERRYGOAT: by Wayan; 2009/8/15, a dream warning what I was becoming; Dreamverse #48 That levitating bear's not tightrope-walking--she rides a goat strung like soap-on-a-rope. A goat that's me! I'm eating... CAUTION: UGH! |
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THINGS WASH OFF: by Wayan; 2009/4/22, a dream fingering the cause of a breakup; Dreamverse #49 Those Hollywood lovers in the tub seem perfect together, until... oh, read the title! CAUTION: RACE- AND GENDER-BENDING |
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A BEAGLE, THREE WOLVES, AND A SETTER: by Wayan; 2009/2/6, a dream-poem; Dreamverse #50 Fresh off the Beagle, Darwin meets three wolf-girls, but has distinctly Biblical inhibitions... CAUTION: EXHIBITIONISM, SPECISM, PUNS |
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BOLLYWOOD LOVE: by Wayan; 2009/4/12, a movie dream (duh!); Dreamverse #51 I dream the universe runs on Bollywood rules. I can stand the constant singing and breakdancing; what gets under my skin is that Bollywood Code... |
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THE GREAT WAVE: by Wayan; 2009/4/24, a dream-poem about the future; Dreamverse #52 I find myself sketching the slope of progress up to the coming singularity, and notice a hidden stability... |
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UNGHOSTS OF CHINA: by Wayan; 2009/9/2, a ghost-dream poem; Dreamverse #53 THAT DAY: art nonstop! Put myself down for obsessing. Empty man! THAT NIGHT: I'm in rural China. Two women tell me their village declared them dead, killed by demons. So are they ghosts, or just written off by idiots? MORNING: wait--have I been calling me dead? Oh... |
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SANTA CLUMP: by Wayan; 2009/9/16, an absurd dream-poem; Dreamverse #54 I find myself sitting on toy trains and fake snow as I'm told a fable: how a herd of department-store Santas got tragically lost in a blizzard... |
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THE DOG KING: by Wayan; 2009/9/28, a short dream poem with portrait; Dreamverse #55 Around royalty, protocol gets complex. I love the Dog King; despite her title she's female. Does that make her a... |
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CURSE HER IN THE OAK: by Wayan; 2009/9/28, dream poem on an odd job; Dreamverse #56 I'm a girl in rural Victorian England working as the county's magical protector. I have my hands full: a gang of thievish orphans has holed up in an invisibility tree! Showdown at the oak... |
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SKY AND PRESTER JOHN: by Wayan; 2009/9/30, two short dream poems with sketches; Dreamverse #57 My neurotic sister and I both lust for a girl named Sky; then I flee a gang of popes and lamas and mullahs... |
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VERY FUNNY, MR. MOSLEY: by Wayan; 2009/10/8, a comic nightmare poem; Dreamverse #58 Trapped in a blend of Joan of Arcadia and The Tempest Tales, I'm tired of being the pratfall sidekick... |
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THE UNICORN MASK OF IGNORABILITY: by Wayan; 2009/10/13, a predictive dream; Dreamverse #59 My family home's invaded by ancient Egyptian architects. So I put on my unicorn mask and eavesdrop on their plans... |
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AQUARINA PRODIGY: by Wayan; 2009/10/15, a dream poem with sketches; Dreamverse #60 A child prodigy stands out in a chorus line of waterdancers. Her body is a patchwork of young & old... |
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PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD: by Wayan; 2009/10/19, an illustrated dream poem; Dreamverse #61 I get stuck with a one-year mandatory gig as President of the World, just as Saudi Arabia collapses, and fools rush in... |
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HELL CAFE: by Wayan; 2009/10/21, a dream poem w/sketch; Dreamverse #62 A Buddhist scroll shows me Hell Cafe, where diners become entrees. But I read the scroll backwards! You can escape Hell just by walking out, against the traffic flow... CAUTION: CANNIBAL SOULS |
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CLAY AND HOP: by Wayan; 2009/10/30, a dream poem with sketches; Dreamverse #63 I touch the secret soul of a cancer survivor, upsetting her. To apologize, I become a goofy hopping god... CAUTION: FONDLING SACRED FIGURINES |
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SHIP OF JADE: by Wayan; 2009/11/7, an illustrated dreampoem on dreampoetry! Dreamverse #64 My dreams are made of lovely carvable jade. Too bad my tools and skills suit our plastic age... |
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