Periodically, I have dreams about the Mississippi River–the portion that, in a straight line, isswan1 less than a mile from my house.  In those dreams, people, including myself walk or drive across the westbound bridge and sometimes parts of it are not there. Once the end was missing; the open end remaining was only a few yards of reaching the opposite bank.  I’ve seen the Bridge sunken in the middle with water flowing over it; I’ve seen people milling, socializing on the bank and on toward the middle in shallow water, though in reality, the River can be thirty feet deep there. Always in my dreams, strange things are happening at the River.

Last night, I dreamed that many laughing, lively spectators watched about 20 of us along a lengthy, loose rope with a net wrapped closely, but scraggly around it.  The rope was on our right side, and each of us were attuned to a position on it.  We were on the westbound bridge, from where we would jump into the water, each into a different spot, and as we completed each jump, the rope, always tangle free regardless of all the physical activity, the overlapping that occurred with all the divers, led us to our next jump-spot.  All the spots that I leaped into had strong currents, roiling water, but they presented no difficulty for me; I was never afraid.  With my right hand on the rope, I was led to an isolated portion of the bridge–a pillar, surrounded by rocks, loose mud, and it was apparent I would land there if I took the leap.  The other divers were having a great time, each one successful, their dives engendering something they needed.  I was aware that I was no longer with them, but had been separated, pulled to that spot and encouraged to make the leap into that quagmire.  There were no spectators, no one except me, looking down, aware that the leap wasn’t safe. Simultaneously, SOMEONE was still encouraging me. I thought of my successful dives and the joy I felt, but I KNEW not to make this one. There was no water! Then I looked closer a the pillar of the bridge and saw a man lodged there, having forced himself into a narrow space by flattening his body.  In his smiling face, I saw that he wanted me to jump, to destroy myself.  I heard the echo of  my voice, as if it was bouncing off the walls of some distant canyon.  However, I wasn’t “talking” or “shouting” to anyone at all. I awoke and saw this man drift upward, out of sight, his body still distorted from the position he’d squeezed into.  I got that he was jealous about something I had no knowledge of; he hated me. I was LOOKING at the danger before me, but he thought I would jump; no common sense, deluded by my ego (that I wasn’t even suffering with). He didn’t know that I’d answered the Clarion Call and that I was protected. He knew that his hatred and jealousy were wrong.

Before this man vanished,  I saw him drift across the eastbound bridge that brings me back home. It was crowded; traffic was jammed.  He knew that If I’d made the leap, I wouldn’t make it “home.”

Submitted by: Naimah on 06/08/2015

Tagged with: •