Dreamscape by Claire Hersom

Until the silken silhouettes of the shore scatter

          gray warblers and chimney smoke marry fog
          hide in the oxygen of the river,
          dance with the cool draft that drifts
          out of the forest

                    never give up, you say
                    there is always a stronghold

In sleep, we fall to nothingness
while our minds gather at the round table to debate
what the day ignored

we wake with angst,
a vague sense of disapproval

who can tell what’s fact, fantasy,
or restless dream

but it’s morning now, a new day

so go ahead

rise



Claire Hersom is a native Mainer who lives in Winthrop. Her work appears in several poetry journals including Yankee Magazine. Her book, Drowning: A Poetic Memoir, (Moon Pie Press) was supplemental text for UMS Rockland campus. In 2011, she received an Emerging Artist Grant in Literature from Boston’s St. Botolph Club Foundation. She serves on the Board of Directors for Maine Equal Justice Partners, and volunteers in local schools giving poetry ‘workshops’. She is one of three organizers for the Hallowell Maine poetry venue, the Bookey Readings at the Harlow Gallery. Her poem, "October Moon" was recently anthologized in the second edition of Wes McNair’s laureate project, More Poems from Maine: Take Heart.