Studio Eviction to Merchant Marine Recruit

Dreams Unfolding

I’m in a factory building in New Haven where we rented studio space.  From the hall I hear a man signing in one of the studios and am a bit surprised when I recognize that its Bob Dylan.  Then there is a bunch of activity with artists moving out saying they have been evicted.

The scene shifts to the deck of a training ship.  I’m carrying a large green duffel.  All the recruits are attempting to find out where we will be bunked.  Eventually I am sorted into a unit of five men and we find our cabin.   

my response:

Wide opposites presented here, and movement between them.  The studio space was a place where I attempted years ago to develop my creative life.  In my psyche, this place is well developed and the presence of Dylan within one of the rooms, analogous to having a fire burning in the wood stove.  The eviction scramble leads to the unexpected locale on the deck of the training ship.  While writing the notes it seems the ship belongs to the merchant marines.

I have a sense that by morning I will be in a place beyond the view of land.  I feel a  concern that the family will be spending months without me.  What I immediately recognize as the difference of life on the ship is the sense of things being in “ship shape.”  With that comes the realization that the strategy is appropriate for the survival of the crew in this environment.