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author’s note:

“We experience a dream as real because it is real.”  
	   – William Dement


DRUMBEAT DOWN IN THE WELL

When the mower suddenly died that day
I said: “Must be a sign from above!”
and lay myself down on the lawn.

Then as I eased into a half-doze
I detected a pulsing murmur-- 
perhaps a distant drumbeat

for a ritual dance
of men, women, children--
a tribal circle reaching up 
to the circle of the moon:
a celebration I might find
by going where my shadow pointed
as the sun sank in the west.

So I stood up and began to walk
or maybe I only dreamt I did--
in any case
I traced that quiet seductive summons 
across a broad savanna
through the starless dark 

until I arrived at a well
round as a drum--
its waters reflected a full moon.

I knew I’d reached the source
yet the sound had died down
so I listened down 
down into that glowing whole
and as a result
I began to feel the beat
softly echoing up 
from a deeper chamber of my heart.

I knew then
I was the ritual circle dancing--
reaching up 
even as I listened down.

I understood:
I celebrate this life
every day with every beat--
even when I feel dull gray--even then
I’m still amazed 
by this mystery we’re in.

Then
having finally realized the obvious
I returned--
finding my way back 
with natural ease
because I was no longer lost.

But though we go back
we never really lose
what we’ve gained, do we?

I can still hear that deep drum--
even now as I mow 
this sunny lawn.