Dream Haiku: A Look into the Unconscious Mind
by Aundrea Marsh
One place that I can always look to for inspiration to write is in my dreams. I feel that the unconscious mind reveals the true inner thoughts and struggles of a person. Many cultures believe that the dream world expresses unfinished business, inner fears, or true aspirations. Dreaming is one of the reasons I love to sleep so much. In my dreams, I have no restrictions. As a lucid dreamer, I can experience multiple dreams in a single sleep pattern where I am aware of the fact that I am dreaming, and have some control over the environment. These dreams are very vivid and realistic. They truly feel real. I've always been interested in the dreams of others as well. What can a dream tell me about this person that I was previously unaware of? How do others experience dreaming? Each person has different ideas on the importance, message, and experience that is dreaming. Through talking with others I've been able to better understand the outlook of other dreamers and how they believe dreams are experienced. I decided to take a deeper look into the world of dreams experienced by other writers expressed through haiku.
talking in her sleep
my wife
calls someone stupid
John Sheirer (1)
I couldn't help but laugh when I read this haiku. Obviously, her subconscious is telling her something! If I was this writer, I'd be a little concerned that my spouse was maybe calling me stupid. The dream world can conjure up many mysterious scenarios. I don't talk in my sleep, but my best friend, Rachel, does. One night, she said something along the lines of, "No, please don't eat my cupcake," and, "Go away, I don't talk to snakes." I tried to ask her in the morning what she dreamt about, but she couldn't remember. I still wonder what happened in this dream. My boyfriend also has talked in his sleep. We often talk about our dreams and their meanings, but few things made me happier than lying beside him and hearing him say, "I love you, Aundrea," in his sleep. I knew from his heart rate he was entirely asleep, but to know he was dreaming about me and that he was even saying then that he loves me is a feeling of happiness I cannot even begin to describe. I've always believed dreams bring out the truth of situations. I just hope this wife wasn't calling her husband stupid in her sleep!
Dawn, and still raining . . .
For me, my sister recalls
her dream of water
O Mabson Southard (2)
The topic of water is commonly dreamed about. I know many people who have had nightmares about drowning or being underwater. Stress or anxiety can sometimes be depicted in the unconscious state as a feeling of drowning or being submerged and suffocating under the weight. I've dreamt before of thunderstorms and summer rain. Usually I have dreams of water when I fall asleep to the sound of water. As children, my brother (who is also a lucid dreamer) and I would compare our dream experiences to see if we had the same dream. Unfortunately, I usually had chocolate induced nightmares. As soon as we woke up, we'd rush to the living room to talk about the previous night's dream. Just like us, the writer and his sister were up at dawn, talking about her dream. The repeated periods on the first line seem symbolic of rain drops. It must have been raining all night at the time. Dreams commonly center on the last stimulus received before moving into the first stage of sleep. The configuration of the poem also gives the idea of water falling down at a slant, whether slant rain or flowing down an incline.
waking up
to find it night—
still the dream
Edward Rielly (3)
This haiku I read two different ways. The individual has woken, or so they think. They've slipped from one dream conscious state into another dream reality. The other option is the individual has woken up, and the dream has stopped, or rather is now still. I find the sense of panic settling into calmness. I commonly wake in the night, and feel the panic from the dream state, and instantly settle down when I realize it was only a dream or that I still have a few more hours to sleep before my day has to start. I've experienced dreams that I thought I woke from, and even started doing my typical routine, and then actually woke (to much confusion). I don't sleep walk, but somehow was performing my daily rituals in my dream space. Maybe I was mentally preparing myself for the physical aspects of my upcoming day? The real question at hand, is the individual still sleeping or just waking?
I write my dream poem
on dream paper
unfortunately
David Lanoue (4)
As a writer, I felt the complete frustration and disappointment that accompanies this haiku. I hate when I think of a wonderful poem, line, or musical progression, only to wake and entirely forget what my brilliant idea was. I think this haiku could have been more impactful with the use of punctuation or rearrangement. "Unfortunately" seems like an afterthought, but could have been more impactful. Otherwise, I do like the emotional evocation to the reader. I can feel his pain. If only we could access that dream paper! I can just see a man in his pajamas, scratching his head as he sits with a blank piece of paper in his lap, pen ready to write, but entirely unable to recall what he just dreamt of. He probably hopes he will dream of the poem again.
five more minutes
in the spring field . . .
my dream
Ikuyo Yoshimura (5)
This haiku instantly gives me the image of a large grassy pasture filled with yellow wild flowers. The grass is so soft and green. The birds are happily singing their mating songs. Why would anyone want to leave? I can just feel the frustration as I wake, wishing so desperately I could return to my dream. It's impossible to return to the dream world with an alarm blaring in your ear, screaming for you to come back to the real world. Just five more minutes. It seems like a cry to the universe, "Please, just let me enjoy my fantasy a little longer, then I'll come back to reality. Just give me a few more minutes in that world!" It's almost childlike. Dreams can keep one feeling young, and this haiku expresses the feeling of youth and rejuvenation. Spring is a time of rebirth and growth. This writer just wants to enjoy it a little longer before coming back to the [assumed] life of an adult.
he's back
striding up the driveway—
I wake up
Peggy Heinrich (6)
Few dreams hurt as badly as those that remind us of what we have lost. This person has lost someone, I'm assuming a lover, and they dream that they are coming back. When they wake up they know that it was only a dream, and nothing more. A feeling of hopelessness lingers after reading this haiku. There's a buildup in his return, and then crushing disappointment in the realization that it was just a dream. I enjoy haiku that give a "punch" at the end. This one definitely gets me right in the heart. I can see a woman, jolting awake from her sleep. She sits up, glancing confused around the dark space of her room. She looks for him, only to have her face turn sullen with the realization. She falls back onto her pillow, staring blankly at the ceiling, not allowing tears to slip over her lids. She knows there's no returning to sleep now, only more thoughts of him consuming her consciousness. He's not coming back, and she's back to where she was…stuck on his memory.
the dreams—
only the blueness
stays with me
Cindy Tebo (7)
This haiku correlates with the ideas stated in the previous response. Dreams may not be real, but the feelings they evoke once the dreamer is awake are very real. She could mean "blueness" in the sense of the sky, the ocean, or the scenery of the dream. I didn't take it like this. I read the word "blueness" like depression. "Only the depression stays with me." A dream can hurt worse that reality. If the dream was amazing, one can wake feel disappointed at the lack of reality for the scenario. If the dream was awful, they can wake feeling even worse about a situation or experience feelings of fear, dread, or panic. A bad dream can leave me feeling "blue" for days after. When you wake in the dark, alone in your bed, there is nothing to comfort you from your own thoughts. You are left feeling a mix of emotions. You know it wasn't real, but that doesn't mean anything. It felt real to you. The worst part is that the dream doesn't leave you, it stays and keeps you awake.
fresh and clean
the pillowcase too has forgotten
last night's dream
Jane Reichhold (8)
If only our pillows could store our dreams for us. I absolutely hate waking, knowing that I had a dream, but unable to recall even a tiny piece of it. I think this frustrates me more than any other experience after dreaming. I believe every dream has a reason that it was experienced. It gives me the same feeling as when I walk out the front door; get ten miles down the road, only to think, "Am I forgetting something? Ah, yes, I did forget something, but what did I forget?" It's forgetting what you even forgot in the first place! The clean pillowcase also gives the impression of a "fresh and clean" mind. This individual doesn't seem too upset at the fact they've forgotten their dream. It almost seems that they are brushing the experience off. Even though they've forgotten, the sleep has left them refreshed.
summer night
even my dreams
are reruns
Gene Doty (9)
Anyone who has watched TV knows that typically new episodes only come out in the spring or fall. Almost every show goes to reruns during the summer. Summer itself can feel like a rerun if you don't have anything to do. Each day drifts into the next, undistinguishable. If you don't have new stimulus, the dreams can become stale as well. I also believe the summer is a time of reflection on the rest of the year since it is typically seen as a time to refresh between school semesters. I tend to reflect on summers past. As I dredge up old memories, my dreams can become "reruns" of the previous memories or even previous dreams. Like this haiku writer, I get fed up with old dreams as fast as I get annoyed by TV show reruns. After I've seen the scenario more than two or three times, I'm basically done with it and never want to see it again. Just like my TV shows, I need new things to watch in my dreams.
Overall, I found many correlations in the way other perceive their dreams in comparison to my own dream experiences. Everyone has different dreams and different ideas on how to interpret them. Nonetheless, all dreamers can experience similar feelings: regret, loss, confusion, anger, wistfulness, and want. We are all humans, but we have different ways of understanding the environment, and dreams are just one of the many ways that we do this.
Works Cited
(1) Snow on the Water. Ed. Jim Kacian. Winchester, VA: Red Moon Press. 1998. 71. Print.
(2) Deep Shade Flickering Sunlight: Selected Haiku of O Mabson Southard. Ed. Barbara Southard. Decatur, IL: Brooks Books. 2004. 79. Print.
(3) Kirschner, Joseph. Inside Out: Haiku and Dreams. Evanston, IL: Deep North Press. 2003. 37. Print.
(4) Kirschner, Joseph. Inside Out: Haiku and Dreams. Evanston, IL: Deep North Press. 2003. 47. Print.
(5) Kirschner, Joseph. Inside Out: Haiku and Dreams. Evanston, IL: Deep North Press. 2003. 50. Print.
(6) Kirschner, Joseph. Inside Out: Haiku and Dreams. Evanston, IL: Deep North Press. 2003. 53. Print.
(7) Kirschner, Joseph. Inside Out: Haiku and Dreams. Evanston, IL: Deep North Press. 2003. 56. Print.
(8) Kirschner, Joseph. Inside Out: Haiku and Dreams. Evanston, IL: Deep North Press. 2003. 72. Print.
(9) The Red Moon Anthology 1996. Ed. Jim Kacian. Winchester, VA. Red Moon Press. 2005. 71. Print.
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