Excerpt from the work-in-progress Desire Without Expectation

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When the weather is good, we sleep outside, far away from other people. There are enough of us to feel safe. Sometimes, in the morning, we would tell each other our dreams. Sometimes our dreams shared characters, the same characters would leave one dream and enter another. We would talk about these dream people, try to describe them to each other, try to ensure they were actually the same figures. That our dreams were falling into sync. Over time we gave these figures names. We argued playfully about what their names might be:

There was The Slickster, who smoothly entered into any dream situation and worked his way through it and into prominence. Other names for The Slickster that we considered and rejected: Mr. Busy, Hungry Guy, Don’t Like Him and Politician.

There was Lady Fighter, who would stand up against any injustice and hold space for others to do the same. Other names for Lady Fighter that were considered: The Organizer, Public Good, Solidarity 101 and When We Fight We Win.

There was New Romantic, who spent most of each dream explaining various genres of music, and the soundtrack of each dream would shift to correspond, like an in-progress personalized mixed tape. Other names considered: Adam Anti, Fade to Grey, Bron Area and Floppy Haircut.

There was The Quiet One, who was often unnoticeable in the background of a scene until some unexpected moment they suddenly became helpful. Other names: The One Who Knows, Catches Everything, Wallpaper Boy and Easily Forgotten.

There was the Irrepressible Being, a kind of ghostly presence that possessed an omnipotent overview of all that happened and therefore could give startling insights at key moments. Other names quickly rejected: Golden Spirit, Imaginary Figment, Dream Dream Dream Figure and Lost Forever.

And then there was you, the protagonist of your own singular dream. There is almost always you.




[I'm gradually realizing that Desire Without Expectation might be the final part of a planned trilogy based loosely around questions concerning the desire for utopia.]



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