In this dream, are we the seer or the seen – a poem by Karen Paul Holmes

In this dream, are we the seer or the seen 


the rider or the driven,
              the seizer or the seized? 

In this dream, are we the stillness
              or the motion, 
do we offer or partake? 

In this dream or in this waking, 
do we hear the sound or make it, 
              make our vow or break it? 

Are we one or two or more, 
are we movie or projector, 
              writer or director, 

do we look to the sun or turn away? 
Are we the water or the thirst? 
 

Karen Paul Holmes has two poetry books, No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich). Her poems have appeared on The Writer’s Almanac, The Slowdown, and Verse Daily. Publications include Diode, Plume, and Valparaiso Review. She has twice been a finalist for the Lascaux Review’s Poetry Prize. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, USA and spends time in the Blue Ridge Mountains.