In my dreams

Night before last, I dreamed I laughed as a physically perfect woman complained to me about her physical flaws.

I dreamed it was nighttime in a swamp, and from a distance I watched a strong and silent man wrap his hands around an enormous snake. Suddenly, the snake transformed into a crocodile, and the man climbed on its back and peacefully rode off under the dark sky.

I dreamed I stood outside, holding a piece of metal. I touched the metal to things around me--a rock, a wall, the ground--each time creating a note, a chord, a sound--I was composing the most melodic and beautiful piece of music I'd ever heard.

I dreamed I was in Málaga Spain, in a shop I'd once purchased my favorite ceramic plates. There appeared to be no one there, and everything in the store was positioned so close together you couldn't move through without knocking things down. I quickly realized it was the store-owner's method of security--alerting them to a visitor only when hearing items fall or break.

The shop owner appeared--a Muslim woman in full garb--and then a customer, a big man with brown skin and a gentle face.

The man carefully looked through a pile of brightly colored scarfs then announced, "I want to wear one for my beloved. I want to be illuminated."