Thursday 16 August 2007

Heat. A Halluzination.


"You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream"


Searing relentless high noon heat
sent me into a deep sleep.

I dreamed
of swimming in the cool waters of a fountain.
Frolicking with mermaids.

A young couple with a chair
appeared on the wall.
Soft shadows dancing.
Somebody moving languidly
to the tune of ancient music.
A gauze-wrapped chandelier
turning slowly in the breeze.

All of a sudden, the music stopped.
A stretch of the Silk Road appeared.
A whole caravan of camels,
loaded with spices and silk.

The Silk Road?
The mermaids kept teasing me.
A dream within a dream!

Velvety pink rose petals
enveloping me.
Another dream?

Green leaves whispering "Heat!"
Sun still blazing from a deep blue sky.
Dream or reality?

On this hot August day,
I had a hard time coming up
with inspiration for a post.
At the end,
Antonio Tabucchi's "Requiem. A Hallucination",
one of my favorite books,
a "hallucinatory novella",
helped me along,
as did Edgar Allen Poe's
"A Dream within a Dream".

*

I caught the images in and around Vienna.
The mermaid fountain in the atrium of
Palais Ferstel on Herrengasse,
the camel at "Zum Schwarzen Kameel",
both in the First District.
All others have been photographed
at Prince Eugene's
country palace, Schloss Hof.

*

15 comments:

  1. It is easy to learn when I visit your blog. You know so many authors, books, poems, music.....and you are an artist to inspire.
    Thank you my dear friend.

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  2. I like mermaids. I have a mermaid candle holder and pictures of mermaids on my shower curtain. An old fisherman told me that mermaids come up into our local sand dunes from the sea on mid-summer's night. I took a bottle of whisky there and fell asleep. I didn't see a mermaid but I woke up in the morning smelling of fish, and with fish scales on my clothes. I guess I'll never figure out what exactly happened that night...

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  3. I love your poetry and the photos to go with it. Beautiful work.

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  4. I am so busy. :o(

    yet when i drop by I find your blog SO refreshing. :o)

    Poe? love the Fall of the house of Usher meself.

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  5. You take blogging inspiration to new heights! Great post and I hope the heat breaks for ya, unless you like it, of course.

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  6. I hope you are not comparing yourself asleep to that great big hairy pig!!!
    Although, I think he illustrates your point beautifully!

    This is a really beautiful, evocative post (I especially love the photo of the green leaves).

    Thanks.

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  7. Merisi, this is such a beautiful dream and photos too.

    I would have thought that Maalie would think that mermaids were not scientifically probable. But, you never know what he gets up to in the sand dunes, especially if he comes out covered with fish scales.

    Lorenzo.

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  8. Britt-Arnhild:
    Thank you for your kind words.

    Maalie:
    The proof is in the scales. Very interesting fish tale. ;-)

    photowannabe:
    Thank you. :-)

    simon:
    I hope your workload gets easier soon! Poe is always a winner with me. ;-)

    Bruce:
    Thank you.
    The temperature dropped overnight. I like the heat, but a break every now and then is nice.

    freefalling:
    You are welcome, thank you! :-)
    I had to come up with something that allowed me to introduce that cute pig to all of you. ;-)

    lorenzothellama:
    Thank you, these are the dreams one comes up with on a hot Viennese summer afternoon. :-)

    Re Maalie, he's doing such a fine job over at your blog, I was quite pleased he came over here to talk about mermaids, even without scientific proof! *giggle*

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  9. What a beautiful fairytale, Merisi.
    I love that Camel.

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  10. CREAM:
    In the August heat, strange things happen (I didn't have pig's hair all over me, though *g*).
    There are all sorts of camels around that restaurant (I mean figurines!), and the Maître d' showed me a beautiful silver lapel pin the current owner has had custom made for him. One day you'll have to take K. to Vienna and to that place, their dining was rebuilt in 1904 in pure Viennese Jugendstil (the restaurant dates back to 1618!), down to the beautiful silver flower vessels.

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  11. Beautiful church. I like the mermaids too. ;-)

    Paz

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  12. P.S. Love the new blog look!

    Paz

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  13. Merisi, I LOVE the poem accompaniment, those words, all of them are truly wonderful, from Hog to Foliage.
    Your photos never cease to remind me of the wonder that is around us, the wonder of the world and its beauty.
    Of course, it helps that you live in Paradise, for starters.
    But even so, its the eye. One must know what is a photo.
    And you do.

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  14. Very dreamy post. Where did the pig *come from*? The mermaids are very cool. Can't be too many of those around!

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  15. Such a nice post, Merisi, I like these pictures with the couple on the wall, the mermaids and the camel!

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