Dreams are soft, Cameron my uncle's
knuckles are vapor in dreams my throat
doesn't burn when I scream
even a falcon's talons can't hurt me but reality
is abrasive concrete pebble-izes knee skin
when we fall
in love it feels good or it hurts so I guess
she meant I don't dream enough?
by Cameron Conaway
3 comments:
It's interesting that this poem starts off with a standard form question and then trickles down the page in fragments with the answer to the question. The spacing and fragmentation evoke a dream-like quality that seems deliberate. I love the final answer to the question because it is unpredictable. That is, it's not common to think that if someone calls you a hardened criminal they actually mean you don't dream enough, yet, Arianna's interpretation feels true. The poem has three characters and does an excellent job of revealing each of them in its small body. The question at the beginning of the poem reminds me of something a therapist would say to a patient ...Am I wondering about Ariannas I-IV? Most certainly.
Cameron Conaway is a graduate student and the Poet-in-Residence at the University of Arizona's MFA Creative Writing program. He works at an all-female juvenile detention center.
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