Dream School

Blooming's Done

Long after graduating I would have dreams where I could not find the classroom nor the administration building to get a schedule of the classes I was taking and the semester was coming to a close. This wasn’t a nightmare, but a delightful confusion.

Blooms have won.
Dream away
Summer sun,
Autumn day.

Then I wake up.

Autumn day,
Summer sun
Dream away.
Blooms have won.

I wonder what that dream was trying to tell me, but not for long. Like summer passing into autumn I forget I even had it.

Text: Linked to dVerse Poetics where Amaya is hosting with the theme “school”. I wrote the poem as a way to practice writing reverse poetry where part of the poem repeats but with the lines in reverse order. I will be featuring that form at dVerse on Thursday.

Photos: “Blooming’s Done”, above, “Final Blossoms”, below.

Final Blossoms
Final Blossoms

Author: Frank Hubeny

I enjoy walking, poetry and short prose as well as taking pictures with my phone.

37 thoughts on “Dream School”

  1. I love these inversions you are doing, Frank. So interesting. Dreaming of school and tests and being unprepared or lost are common – I think it has something to do with how we are always learning, and being tested – metaphorically anyway.

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  2. Ha! Just talking about these dreams in class today! It gets weirder when you are the teacher and dream of not being able to find your students 🙂 Love the poetry and the pix, Frank.

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  3. I used to have dreams while I was in school of not remembering the combination to my locker and not being able to find the classroom because I was afraid that would happen. Perhaps your dreams signaled that you missed school?

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    1. I’m always afraid I won’t remember combinations. It makes me not want to use those kinds of locks. It might have been that I missed school. I remember once thinking when I had those dreams that I was no longer in school so why am I trying to find the admin building? It didn’t quite snap me out of the dream, but it was an odd feeling. Thank you, Mary!

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  4. Yes, I know that dream well. The calculus final is approaching, but wait? I’m taking calculus? I vaguely remember registering for it but I don’t think I’ve gone to any classes and certainly not done any of the homework. What’s going on? I’m confused.

    You must be enlightened if this dream doesn’t become a nightmare for you! It gets me all worked up every time.

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    1. Ah! You’ve had them as well! They seemed more confusing and perhaps annoying than the scariness of a nightmare. No one is chasing me around. I’m the one chasing about trying to find where my classes are. Thank you for the prompt, Amaya!

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  6. What a strange coincidence?! Only an hour ago, upon crossing my school in a bus, I was reminded how I still have dreams of roaming that hall, and how each and every stair marks a memory of friendship, embarrassment, and mentorship. I even thought about how safe would it to be run inside it’s halls on a life or death situation. Safe haven for my childhood. Your writing reminded me of it exactly. Thank you.

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  8. An interesting reflection, Frank. I still sometimes dream that I have to write an exam that I haven’t properly prepared for. I wake up very anxious. It is strange because I was a straight A student and never failed anything.

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  10. It reminds me of daydreaming, something I did lots of as a youngster, lol. The form sounds interesting. I hope I can steal away a little daydream time myself and join your topic tomorrow night.

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  11. The effect here is like a haibun which you always seem to handle so effortlessly. Wonderful the way your poem embraces uncertainty too and finds it reflected in the natural world.

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  12. I actually used to get lost in school and not be able to find my classes. I was late a lot and never told anyone I was lost. Just a few years ago we held our church services in a high school in summer. Every week I would get lost looking for the ladies room. One time it took me right back to school days. I think it is ADD, which of course was never diagnosed back then. Still scary for me to get lost in what should be the familiar. But it took 40+ years to explain it.

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    1. In my dream I just can’t make progress. Something always gets in the way. It is like being lost since I don’t know where to go and where I do go gets me more entangled in mystery. Thank you, Mary!

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  13. kaykuala

    School days had been the most enjoyable – a lot of fun with no commitments. Better yet, as ‘dreams’ during school days can act as a guide to explore workable alternatives!

    Hank

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    1. Dreams can be a way to see alternatives even when the dreams don’t make any sense. I like having a restful night so the dreams make things clear on waking up even though they may not have been clear in the dream. Thank you, Hank!

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  14. I too have those recurring dreams: can’t find the exam room, didn’t study, missed all the classes. I agree with VJ. THe inversion works particularly well here.

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  15. ah yes…..autumn brings dreams of newly sharpened pencils and chalkboards too. When one goes from student to teacher to administration within the education system….and then finally retires, it’s nigh impossible to think about fall (in the states) without thinking about a new school year!

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  17. It’s fascinating how common these dreams are! I have them less frequently now, every couple years maybe, of not being able to find my class, realizing I’ve missed a lot of classes and don’t know the material, can’t find my locker, forgot to memorize my lines for the play…. I think it points to the amount of underlying anxiety we had about getting to class in high school, though the plays were in college. I’m glad these dreams are going away and we can just enjoy the blooms and autumn leaves. May your dreams be sweet ones.

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    1. I no longer have them, but it is good to know that others have them as well. It might be an underlying anxiety that I remember. I haven’t looked them up trying to find a dream interpretation. They haven’t bothered me that much. Thank you, JoAnna!

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