Literary Impulse & Paper Poetry ‘Eudaimonia’ Prompt Submission

The Only Dream

Where I’m convinced the Divine spoke

Dance with me, please Golden Light, my Love, The Only Dance with me, please Scent of Spring, goodbye long winter Flames I twirl in, fingers sparkling Voice unvoiced, it will be okay Dance with me, please

©Jenine Bsharah Baines 2021

Carolyn Hastings, did you notice my photo’s caption? MY GOD, rondelet poetry is difficult to write!

My old lady brain sweated buckets — the most grueling part of the creative hike (Øivind H. Solheim, thinking of you as I type) being surmounting the Everest of rhythm requirements. I felt like the Little Engine that Could, the choo-choo train in the children’s book whose refrain, chugging up a high hill, was I think I can, I think I can.

The lack of periods is intentional, to reflect the Eternal, the ever-expanding divinity of the Universe and the ongoing nature of our spiritual hike.

The poem describes a dream I had soon after the birth of my 36-year old daughter. So it’s been a while. But I’ve never forgotten it. I know it was no normal dream because I really and truly smelled Spring in the air — I smelled it!

It was SO the scent in Midwestern air on the first day of True Spring.

A warm golden Light was all I saw, and all I wanted was to become one with It. To lift my arms and twirl.

Then I heard the Voice that wasn’t a Voice. “It will be okay.”

Which promptly scared me to death.

And I woke up.

I’d love for the Divine to hit “repeat” in my brain’s remote. Thus far, no dice.

Thank you, Suntonu Bhadra and the team at Paper Poetry, plus Priyanka Srivastava and the team at Literary Impulse, for the joint prompt — Eudaimonia.

Thank you, dearest readers. I think of eudaimonia as happiness distilled to its essence’s essence…and you are joy’s essence-squared.