The Night of (all) the Living

It started as a dream,

I think...

there -

under the shadows of the moon.

In shades (and hues) of blue

{{and pink}};

I think I saw my life [[end all]]

too soon.

I woke up in the clouds

{{then blinked}}

and all of a damn sudden, I

was moving,

flying through...

a galaxy devoid [[of sound]]

and things

that would have put (me in)

{{my room}}.

Then, there -

out of the stardust

[[came]]

a being, (a premonition) who...

was not masculine

[[nor feminine]],

but a skeleton of dreams

(who seemed)

to represent MY OWN [[impending doom]].

"Who... are you?" (I asked)

though I could barely [[grasp]]

the meaning of my words

(as I)

just faintly heard (and saw) them through...

{{the blue}}

of space and time

as we flew !~fast~!

(and our) existential purpose seemed

to slowly come

{{unglued}}.

"I am the ghost of

Día de

(los muertos)-past"

***the figure said***

"I am Noche de los vivos -

~~~~~~~~the night (of all)~~~~~~~

{{THE LIVING}};

I am here to guide you

in your sleep

to see what kind of life

(on Earth)

your troubled essence (has)

been giving."

Then, before (I could) respond

I think [[I thought]] I witnessed

(my)

own spirit (leave) my body...

I watched (the dimness) all

around us fade

as constellation {*citrus*} trees

began to blossom

(as did)

{*{daffodils}*} and poppies.

"Follow me,"

it said to me

and I waded through [[the hollowness]]

of water;

and as I did

I sunk amid

{{colossal twists}} of which

I thought I was

{{the author}}.

All around me, I

[~began to see~]

my story pass [[as if]]

the footprints of my life

{{were scripted}} in

**********THE STARS**********...

"Tell God your plans, and he

will laugh," (it said),

and then it stuck [[its hand]]

inside my chest (and)

***garnered out*** my

{~~WARRING HEART~~}.

Oh, how time

{{ESCAPED ME}}, I...

was racing -

{{{blazing}}} through

the sky (without my) [[earthly blood]]...

then like *a lotus*

(like) morning {{GLORIES}} and rosehips, I

could feel my essence (like a flower)

start

to slowly come undone (and)

softly *BUD*.

I was something of a *constellation aster*...

I was purple, {blooming}

~*zooming*~ through

[[an hourglass-stained sky]]...

until I stopped and spun

in circles, and

began to plummet

(faster)...

FASTER -

(into terrains and summits, that)

[[were part of a strange planet]], called

"Me, MYSELF...and I."

"What is this place?"

I asked the being, who looked at me (with)

unforgiving eyes...

"This is where

>>>you judge your will<<<

(to see if you're) fully fulfilled

--or if--

you're living in

A WORLD CONSTRUCTED OF MERE LIES.

"I live an honest life," I said -

but as I thought about it, >>and<<

*as I*

fought around it...

as I saw it play out right before my eyes...

I realized I felt full of dread, for I

(through all this time)

had, of course, been wearing a disguise.

Perhaps, **perhaps***, (it was all the)

masks I'd worn...

through 2020 - into this new year's

quick uprise,

~~but I'd collapsed~~

[[my subconscious cracked]] -

(and I realized I)

>>was no longer someone I<<

think I thought I {{recognized}}.

And that was when

~~the skeleton~~

leaned into me and

pointed to the vast, hypnotic skies...

and oh, how right before me

[[[I]]]

began to see my higher self

deplore me, (for)

my present self was now (somehow)

>>R*O*B*O*T*I*C<<, ossified.

Stiff and stuck,

(I had no movement)

I was running fast

but

[[staying still]]...

fighting currents, going nowhere going through it

walking up an endless, inclined hill.

Tick, tick, ticking

(I was drifting) !but! was stagnant...

{{I was whole but somehow also ** *fragments * *...}}

(my soul was nothing, but)

[[a ticking time bomb with]]

a senseless sense of time...

then I felt myself disperse and form star droplets

falling freely from a constellation's

*

d

r

i

p

p

i

n

g

*

*

**faucet**

and each and every part of me -

my {heart}

and -hands-

and all my thoughts

(became) >>> safari comets, >>>>that then

took off through space

* * * * * * * >>>>>aboard a rocket------>>>>>

!!!each!!!

(within their place)

[[[unlocking paradigms]]].

I settled in the dust somewhere

(I think)

upon the ruby rust of Mars...

all around me

(I saw faces)

made not up of beauty

(but of)

adumbrations (truly) --and of--

loosely-strung guitars.

Then, the music...

🎶 🎶🎵(the strange music)🎶🎵 🎶

echoed through me, and

through all shades of light (that were not)

!!!bright!!!

[[nor gloomy]]

yet ultraviolet; infrared...

The skeleton -

(my friend, the skeleton)

looked at me with hollow, space-draped eyelets

and I began to feel all [[tensity]] between us

FINALLY... break bread.

"Now's your chance,"

(he whispered to me)

"Go ahead, my friend, go right ahead and dance...

go on, go on - now is your chance," (he said),

I know you've always wanted to be red."

And that was when

- - just for a moment - -

(yes, for just one moment) out in space...

I felt the doom of Earth's blue surface

(cease to cool my fiery purpose)

and I danced on top of ruby,

SCARLET Mars-red fate.

Dance I did...

(~*~oh how I danced~*~)

amid all the many glowing faces in the sky...

of versions of myself from my soul's past,

*because*, alas -

I was once bees, and birds,

~and elephants;

(as was I)

purple peonies and butterflies.

"Tell God your plans and he

will laugh,"

[[I whispered]]

*as I*

watched my many pieces fade into the sky...

>>>then my friend

[[the skeleton]]

handed me my mangled map

my tangled graph

my labeled draft of life (strapped to a)

[[[[[thousnad sticks of dynamite]]]]}.

"How am I to know (if I'm)

supposed to be ** *a fire's glow* **

>>or if I'm meant to flow

~~like water~~

through all of life's low tides?"

"My child, you will see

that you are free

(no matter in which)

element or format you reside."

And that was when I realized

* **that the dynamite** *

was made of light

and therefore it was also

made of lovely {{ fire }}...

(so I took)

the ticking time bombs in my hands...

and with one strike {{{{ I began, I started to ignite }}}}

the love

{{and brightly glowing}}

~laughter strands~

that my little, Earthly heart desired.

>>>And then,

I think that I exploded;

I think that all my fibers (became)

spiderwebs with notes of turquoise stardust way up high...

>>and then I woke up to red roses that<<

....had blossomed under

{never ending, sapphire blue skies}.

How ironic, how

symbolic (that)

with ruby red and azure writhing...

I could be lilac, I...

could be a shade of violet, I...

could be fire's glow and water's flow

(during the)

wondrous Night of (all) the Living.

-Gina C. 🧚‍♀️✨

***

Author's Note: Día de los muertos, or "Day of the Dead", is a Mexican holiday in which people celebrate their loved ones who have passed. It is meant to reunite the living and those who are no longer with us.

My dream was the ironic opposite of Día de los muertos. During this crazy, star-filled and moonlit adventure - which my subconscious called "The Night of the Living" - a faceless spirit encouraged me to challenge, question, and celebrate my existence on Earth - to honor and accept my blue as much as my red.

I write a lot about having a conflicted spirit of both blue and red - of equal parts fire and water. If you follow me, you'll see this theme pop up a lot. While I am the most at home in blue, I've always strived and dreamed of being more permanently red. The fire exists within me, and it does shine through at times. Once I am blue, I always strive to be Red again. 💃🏽✨

I am a huge fan of the artwork of Frida Kahlo and thought that this painting of hers - which is called "The Dream" - paired with my strange, existential adventure quite well. Frida Kahlo is considered one of Mexico's greatest artists.

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Welcome to my ✨Surreal Poetry Series✨. :) If you enjoyed this piece, you might also like this one, which was also written for the Full Moon Challenge:

Did you like seeing a poem paired with a famous painting? If so, you might enjoy my Famous Painting & Poetry Series. Here is another from that collection:

If you are interested to read more work of mine inspired by my ongoing Blue & Red Theme, you might enjoy these:

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