Under a Midnight Sun

Night Visitors and Dreamers

On January 23, 2019, members of the Coyote Poets of Sedona had coffee together at Reds Restaurant. The morning sky was cloudy and the wind chill dropped the temperatures into the low 40s. Everyone wore jackets and colorful scarves. Everyone was excited about the poetry prompt given by new member, Sharon Porter, a talented painter and sculptor in our town. She asked us to write a poem inspired by her beautiful painting titled, Night Visitors, a surreal and evocative image of a sleeping woman surrounded by hooded sentinels. Her  earthbound visitors seemed vaguely sinister contrasted with illuminated angels glowing golden in the midnight sun.

Each one of us found the image to be inspiring and we shared our impressions and thoughts:

Only the Dreamer Bleeds

by Kathy Mackey

Alone in a muted world,

edges overlap, distorted and dark. 

Night blooming flowers burn.

Sharp sounds provoke the black dog's bark.

Adrift under cloud blankets.

Glimpsing colors of bone, birch, cloud, smoke, ash

rising up from planets

unhinged from stars waiting to crash.

Anxious angels intercede.

Radiant black wings break the deadly fall.

Only the dreamer bleeds,

suffering, sore, a broken doll.

Anger prods, electrifies.

Sleeping dogs, tired angels, astral visitors

jolted, aroused, energized

banish fear. Dreamless sleep restored.