Between the Knowable and the Unknowable A crack, sliver of space, hairline fissure where dreams go, but never nightmares, where names you can’t remember and phone numbers slip away, letters jumbled with digits, where nouns abscond as you age and impostor homophones intrude. They slither just out of reach, blurred, impossible to reclaim, along with the scent of your first lover, the particular timbre of your first dog’s bark, prayers and song lyrics you memorized between seven and seventeen. In that crevice, answers to lifelong questions: Who is my true self? How do I muddle best? What am I doing? What comes next?
Joan Mazza is a retired medical microbiologist and psychotherapist, and taught workshops focused on understanding dreams and nightmares. She is the author of six self-help psychology books, including Dreaming Your Real Self. Her poetry has appeared in The Comstock Review, Prairie Schooner, Slant, Poet Lore, The Nation, and other publications. She lives in rural central Virginia and writes every day.
Amethyst Review 