Dreams of Sandhill Cranes
Dreams of Sandhill Cranes
I walked into a surreal wildwood
thick and lush, full of strange trees
and waist high grasses swaying
I passed through the dusk light of that place,
and came upon a clearing where I paused
The sky turned a blueish black, full of luminous stars,
and from beyond a grove of trees, they appeared
Three Sandhill Cranes, each standing nine feet tall,
their feathers a dusty silver, like moonlight
the tops of their heads red like a Nebraska sunset
They walked in a straight line past me,
ominous yet comforting,
peaceful yet intimidating
I waited for a message from them
but no message came
Three days later,
On my way across the country
I drove through a place
called, Sandhill Nebraska
Assuming a prophecy would be spoken here
the fields were empty
and no prophecy came
Then, three days later,
driving by a field somewhere in Southern Canada,
I saw three Sandhill Cranes
Standing close, they did not look at me
and further back in the corner of the field,
stood another hundred
I had never seen them in real life
They are graceful in flight,
and prehistoric in their throaty calls
nearly metallic in sound,
like screen doors,
swung open by wind
I stood still on the edge of the road
facing them with fixed attention
my eyes focused on their subtle movement
waiting, watching, listening
I was thousands of miles from home,
having travelled far,
with great distances ahead of me
As I watched carefully,
a thought rose within me.
Now, I will have understanding
but no understanding came
So I drove onward, to further fields
wondering if I had missed something.
Had I thought too much
or not enough
had I been too loud, too quiet
had I hoped too much for an obvious answer
had I not looked close enough,
or had I looked too directly at the thing -
like trying to see an early rising star that
can only be seen from the corner of your eye
Perhaps I cursed myself by seeking a message,
a prophecy, an understanding
Instead of simply finding whatever might
pass through my open awareness
Searching gets in the way seeing
So, I left once again,
empty handed as a September field
the river-like road ahead of me,
the sage-like cranes behind me
On that day I drove for 18 hours
and eventually slept along the edge
of another empty field,
pitching the tent at 4am
in a daze, in the dark
I fell asleep that night with the spinning visions
of water rushing over cliffs
of empty streets and empty fields
of endless yellow road lines
of facing fears
of new life chapters
of swimming in every one of the Great Lakes
and of Sandhill Cranes
Nine feet tall
the color of moonlight
saying nothing
conjuring me into patience
as they quietly keep the secret
of everything I long to know
Have you had a dream that connected to an experience in real life? I love this type of thing, and really trying to interpret meaning and conjuring stories of mystery with dreams and life. Please share your dreams and stories in the comment section, or send them to me in a email (bonus points for artwork illustrating the dream) - - - wes@livethecuriouslife.com
You can also see photos and read a travel essay from that day of 18 hours of driving when I saw the cranes on this post.
