2011.01.23 19:00 - Schemes and Dreams

The Guardian for this meeting was Calvino Rabeni. The comments are by Calvino Rabeni.

druth Vlodovic: hi cal,
Calvino Rabeni: Hello druth :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Cal hi Druth
Calvino Rabeni: Hi Sharon
druth Vlodovic: hey sophia
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Luci
Lucinda Lavender: hi:)
druth Vlodovic: lucinda
druth Vlodovic: nice notecard
SophiaSharon Larnia: am i crazy, how long has the water spray been in the fountain?
druth Vlodovic: lol, you're crazy, as long as I've been coming
druth Vlodovic: it comes and goes
SophiaSharon Larnia: ah thanks :)
Lucinda Lavender: people adjust it sometimes I thought...
SophiaSharon Larnia: waves to Luci all the way over there :)
Calvino Rabeni: That's funny, it has been there in the center all these hours, plain as day
Lucinda Lavender: :) I like even spacing...
Calvino Rabeni: and there's some doubt about just what is going on there
Lucinda Lavender: what sort of doubt?
Calvino Rabeni: was it there, how high does it spray, does it change and when, what causes it to change
druth Vlodovic: our collective psychic energy
SophiaSharon Larnia: and now that im thinking of it, this pavilion is getting cluttered up haha
Calvino Rabeni: ok in 60 seconds, the pause, I'm going to focus on the fountain :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: (my hands are freezing sorry about the typos)
druth Vlodovic: any more stuff in the fountain and I'm adding a ladle
Calvino Rabeni: mine are just uncoordinated
SophiaSharon Larnia: hehe
Lucinda Lavender: :)
--BELL--

Looking at poetry as a contemplative practice in a group, and related ideas.

Calvino Rabeni: There is going to be a special playasbeing theme session on "Poetry as Practice" here next week at this time ...
Calvino Rabeni: "by popular demand" :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh? I didnt know, thanks for saying
druth Vlodovic: :)
Calvino Rabeni: It may be a series, and might happen in different time slots
SophiaSharon Larnia: great
Calvino Rabeni: but the first will be here
druth Vlodovic: "..."as practice"?
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, there are poets who use writing poetry as a contemplative practice
Calvino Rabeni: Perhaps its a little like doing an artistic Blog ...
Calvino Rabeni: or some people like to do Journaling in the same way
Calvino Rabeni: as a kind of daily practice ..
Calvino Rabeni: which externalizes their awareness state perhaps
Calvino Rabeni: or maybe it's like a mirror
SophiaSharon Larnia: ive tried that in the past, didnt really want anyone to read it
Calvino Rabeni: Journals? I wouldn't either
Lucinda Lavender: felt the same for mine SSl
druth Vlodovic: I find whatever I write comes out drastically different from what I was thinking
SophiaSharon Larnia: found myself, when writing out of a comfort zone to change the story into something more tidy
Calvino Rabeni: I think, as with blogs, people have the idea of it being "for others" or read by them as a part of their expectation
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes
SophiaSharon Larnia: poetry would be easier, the same that its contained
SophiaSharon Larnia: in the sense rather
Lucinda Lavender: but then again...I have experienced this way that the words feel like they are not very personal...and a connection to a big idea
SophiaSharon Larnia: journeling goes on forever!
Lucinda Lavender: usually something kind of new
Lucinda Lavender: to me
Calvino Rabeni: A dream circle becomes a group practice after a while
Lucinda Lavender: yes...it does
Lucinda Lavender: particularly when the dreams seem related
Calvino Rabeni: There is both input and output ... the dream teller is listening both directions
Calvino Rabeni: a kind of flowing-through
Calvino Rabeni: the dreamer is not just a producer
Lucinda Lavender: streaming dreaming
Lucinda Lavender: yes
Calvino Rabeni: And a poetry practice for a group could be the same
Calvino Rabeni: actually I think even a solo poetry practice could become a kind of dialogue where the poet looks at the world and looks at how it mingles with the "internal" world ... as they're really already in relationship
SophiaSharon Larnia: how would it work here, write about a topic?
--BELL--

Calvino Rabeni: Maybe so Sophia ... if not a topic than a kind of theme
SophiaSharon Larnia: right
Calvino Rabeni: It can help to have some kind of a focus
Calvino Rabeni: sort of like a meditation object
Calvino Rabeni: There's a creative writing group in SL here
Calvino Rabeni: and they get together and do a short piece of writing
SophiaSharon Larnia: yes ive been to a few :) years ago now
Calvino Rabeni: it starts with a "word" ... some kind of word selected at random
Calvino Rabeni: and then each of them writes something that is elicited by that word
Calvino Rabeni: and afterwards they share the pieces
Calvino Rabeni: which would be really interesting
Calvino Rabeni: to compare one's own gleanings with those of others
Lucinda Lavender: I am imagining doing it about a word that we pick before the 90 pause...
SophiaSharon Larnia: :) great
Lucinda Lavender: writing f or 90 seconds and then sharing...
Calvino Rabeni: maybe in PaB here, we'd contribute to a combined "poem" or story by taking turns
SophiaSharon Larnia: i vote you for the guardian :D hehe
Calvino Rabeni: 90 seconds .. I can see sometimes it would help to sloooooww down and wait for something to emerge organically
Calvino Rabeni: that brings out a different quality or layer of knowing, compared to "popcorn" or free association.
Calvino Rabeni: There is something to be learned from each of those
Lucinda Lavender: yes...both but taking a slower approach would be interesting...
Calvino Rabeni: Like in an improv acting class I went to where they throw a rubber chicken and when you catch it you say the first thing that comes to mind
druth Vlodovic: oh! nice, I have to remember that for next wednesday :)
SophiaSharon Larnia: uh darn it ? :)
Calvino Rabeni: but I sort of favor the slowed down version
Calvino Rabeni: because it gives a chance to let things emerge from deeper places \
Calvino Rabeni: (unless of course the infamous "critic" gets ahold of it)
Calvino Rabeni: which is sometimes a good reason for going faster
SophiaSharon Larnia: :) Druth are you in an improv clas?
druth Vlodovic: lol, no, scouts
Calvino Rabeni: It can be a lot of fun
SophiaSharon Larnia: oh, almost like one then
Lucinda Lavender: I have a kind of critic that will fuss and paralyse me...sometimes
SophiaSharon Larnia: me too
druth Vlodovic: fast and form both help distract you a bit from mental blocks
Lucinda Lavender: happy to try all ways tho...
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Paradise
Calvino Rabeni: That seems like the fun part.. the place where I get to have a variety of experiences and learn
druth Vlodovic: hey para
Calvino Rabeni: :) paradise
Lucinda Lavender: Hiya Pardise:)
Paradise Tennant: hiya sophia , lucinda , durth , calvino :)
Lucinda Lavender: I had an image from this mornings dream...related to poetry...
Paradise Tennant: listens
Lucinda Lavender: The beat poets gathering in a small cafe for breakfast...my response was to wonder...has Youtube been here?
Paradise Tennant: smiles
Calvino Rabeni: that's wonderful
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: can you say more about the dream :)
Calvino Rabeni: Wow, yes
Calvino Rabeni: What did you pick up?
Lucinda Lavender: it was a cozy place of communion.
Lucinda Lavender: just a few at a counter...wooden...not very bright here...just warm.
Lucinda Lavender: no particular topics...
Lucinda Lavender: shift to the question of youtube...an insert from Now...
Paradise Tennant: smiles .. shared creativity .. a kind of thinking on the same wave .. bonding.. fellowship .. groupdom ... being truly in touch .. that kind of sense?
Lucinda Lavender: yes
Paradise Tennant: nice dream!
Calvino Rabeni: That sounds a good description for the poetry theme session :) Can I use it, Paradise?
Paradise Tennant: lol
Paradise Tennant: of course :)
Calvino Rabeni: )
SophiaSharon Larnia: :)
Lucinda Lavender: :)
Paradise Tennant: amazing how powerful dreams are ..
Paradise Tennant: how they .. make reality shift sometimes ..
Lucinda Lavender: yes...incorporating several threads
Calvino Rabeni: That is a really interesting thing.. the dream is kind of a super-metaphor
Calvino Rabeni: with lots of threaded together meanings
Calvino Rabeni: do you try to discriminate the threads sometimes, Cinda?
Lucinda Lavender: sometimes yes...
Lucinda Lavender: there were several parts and they often speak to the threads
Lucinda Lavender: There also was speaking with younger women...reminding them not to wait to the last minute to say they have to leave... as well as leading them down a path in the woods...past asian statues
SophiaSharon Larnia: hi Samuo
Lucinda Lavender: as well as
Calvino Rabeni: Good evening oO0Oo
oO0Oo Resident: hi everybody (sry late)
Lucinda Lavender: Hi O
Lucinda Lavender: the threads of energy to commune...I feel were moving together in this dream
Paradise Tennant: hiya O
Paradise Tennant: smiles at lucinda :)
Paradise Tennant: amazing how sometimes dreams deposit some kind of tangible residue within you that allow you to go back to the sense the feeling of it
Calvino Rabeni: That's a nice way to put it Paradise -- a felt sense in the body ...like a handle with no name, that can take one back to the dream
Paradise Tennant: once dreamt I was sailing .. a hobi cat .. really cranked up and moving well .. but felt completely one with the boat and one with the waves and wind ..pure sense of joy .. still can revisit that feeling ..always makes me think remembering a dream is like being given a gift
Paradise Tennant: they dissolve in the mist so easily
Calvino Rabeni: A gift one can "keep" sometimes.  I take the felt sense of the dream, and then give it a word or two to make a better handle
Lucinda Lavender: yes
Calvino Rabeni: Many of mine "get away" and I lose the handle, but I believe it goes it the ground water or compost of the unconscious, rather than disappearing
Lucinda Lavender: nice way to put it...
--BELL--

Lucinda Lavender: I will be leaving now...have a movie to watch but enjoy the time all...
Paradise Tennant: goodnite lucinda
druth Vlodovic: have fun LL
Paradise Tennant: dream well :)
oO0Oo Resident: :) Lucinda
SophiaSharon Larnia: goodnight Luci
Lucinda Lavender: ...wish you all the same...:)
SophiaSharon Larnia: and me as well, sweet dreams :)
oO0Oo Resident: :) SSL
Paradise Tennant: good nite sophia
Paradise Tennant: sweet dreams
druth Vlodovic: she tricked me, walking backwards I thought she was just arriving :)
Paradise Tennant: good idea :) when she relogs ..she won't land on anyone :)

Time to dive into the pool and see what's underneath.  Things can look rather different from the inside.  Paradise proposes a dream poem.

Paradise Tennant: shall we try a poem .. maybe one of dreams ?
Paradise Tennant: hiya stevenaia :) gtsy
stevenaia Michinaga: greetings
Calvino Rabeni: Good evening Stevenaia
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
oO0Oo Resident: :)'venai'
Calvino Rabeni: I'm game for that idea Paradise
oO0Oo Resident nods
Paradise Tennant: okies
Paradise Tennant: who would like to start :)
stevenaia Michinaga: start.. (what)
Paradise Tennant: you landed just in time for a poem .. your fate :)
stevenaia Michinaga: smiles
druth Vlodovic: g2g, have fun guys, look forward to readig it in the log :)
Paradise Tennant: nite nite druth
Calvino Rabeni: Take care, druth Bye
stevenaia Michinaga: bye druth
oO0Oo Resident: :) druth

Paradise takes the plunge, inviting us to enter the deep space of imagination and creation.
A an experiment, I gathered the lines of the poem together  (later in the transcript). 

Paradise Tennant: hmm ok ..no volunteers .. here goes :)
Paradise Tennant: counting backwards three two one ...
--BELL--

stevenaia Michinaga: clockwise?
Paradise Tennant: lol tries to figure out which way that would be .. think cal is next :)
Calvino Rabeni: sorry - phone - I pass, will catch the next round :)
oO0Oo Resident: np
Paradise Tennant: o ?
oO0Oo Resident: ...
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
Paradise Tennant: ...
Calvino Rabeni: ...
oO0Oo Resident: ...
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
oO0Oo Resident: ...
Paradise Tennant: ...
Calvino Rabeni: ...
oO0Oo Resident: ...
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
--BELL--

Paradise Tennant: ...
Paradise Tennant: hiya ewan we are a poeming
Ewan Bonham: Hi Folks!
oO0Oo Resident: :) Ewan
Calvino Rabeni: ...
oO0Oo Resident: ...
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
Paradise Tennant: ...
Susan Aloix: Hi all :) Ewan, Paradise, Cal, Samuo, Stevenaia :)
Calvino Rabeni: ...
stevenaia Michinaga: :)
Calvino Rabeni: Hi Susan :)
Susan Aloix: Hi Cal :)
Ewan Bonham: ...
oO0Oo Resident: ...
Paradise Tennant: hiya susan we are poeming
Susan Aloix: Hi Paradise..and nice
Susan Aloix: (will jump in after stevenia if i can)
stevenaia Michinaga: ...
Susan Aloix: pass
Ewan Bonham: ...

--BELL--

Counting backwards three two one ..
then all grey .. soft .. floating .. deeper
phosphorescent fish traverse the economy of consciousness
the colors flow from the center enlighten
they dance .. dart ... glimmer ...pink .. blue .. green
like flashes of thought barely remembered
flowing fragments this school of small fish
delish!
colors, fish, melt into a rainbow bowl of a dish
licked inside and out by primordial mother
in the swirl of this world and not this world
roughly clean .. barely shaken
yet oddly stirred, stirred beyond reason
forgetting everything, the blades of grass become a pageant
they march in uniform lines like a woven carpet
there is music in the grass
dances in the wind
we are alive to everything
the notes tumble and roll in eddies along the hillside
discrete breathes so far from solar wind
the darkness puts me quietly to sleep
the wind and hill soften the fall
in the still morning moments
it rises to thought
this world of wonder
a gift for the remembering
trailing gossamer threads that span realms where the eye cannot follow
As I listen to the birds, my mind flies and soars above the clouds
hitched to many horses pulling my dreams
through to waking
I awaken, the pounding feeling of hoofprints
leave their heavy mark on my skin
I shake loose the beads of sleep to find myself
in the half dazed descent back to reality

* * *

The collected poem gives a different impression than it had during the group session.  More coherent ... against the still background of the page, it emerges as its own entity rather than a collage;  yet that unity must have been there, uncognized, during the session.

Paradise Tennant: creeps quietly out to .. descend into the soft unfocused realms for real :) nite nite all namaste my friends :)
Calvino Rabeni: _/!\_
Calvino Rabeni: Paradise
Ewan Bonham: Bye Para..
oO0Oo Resident smiles at paradise dreaming
stevenaia Michinaga: night paradise
stevenaia Michinaga: I must be off as well
Susan Aloix: Namaste Paradise
Calvino Rabeni: Thanks for the lines, everyone
Susan Aloix: Bye Stevenaia
stevenaia Michinaga: night all, enjoy
Susan Aloix: yes thank you all....lovely
Ewan Bonham: Bye Steve
oO0Oo Resident: :) 'even'
Ewan Bonham: Well, I guess i will be going as well..looks like we have a meandering and extensive dream of a poem..:)
Susan Aloix: very dreamesque
Calvino Rabeni: It will appear condensed in the log ...
oO0Oo Resident: Nice to see/be Ewan
Calvino Rabeni: Good evening Ewan
Calvino Rabeni: It's a good departure moment for me also
Susan Aloix: tc Ewan :)
Calvino Rabeni: take care, see you later, Susan and oO0Oo
oO0Oo Resident: Take care Cal :)
oO0Oo Resident: always a pleasure
Susan Aloix: Bye Cal :)
Calvino Rabeni: Yes, likewise sam
Calvino Rabeni: Bye Susan :)
Susan Aloix: Nice to see you again all :)