House of Nations

Dreamt today [8 January 2011] I climbed thru hatches in a tower, multi-level, archival, housing an ongoing history of all the world’s peoples. Spent hours in the 'Jews Room' with Dad, Mom & Rachel, as Sara peeked over from Arab Corridor. A Christian Jew (folkdancer I know) spoke of Jewish history, while friend Alan-Hugo exchanged good legs with a crippled Jew, before I spiraled north up a stairway into Britain.

Feeling along the floorboards, I found a ribbon-wrapped letter, sealed with a red heart—signed from me. The lady recipient had saved it from centuries ago, came & kissed me for hours; the same thing happened in a special Scottish ‘wing’- the young girl said Robin (Burns) had died & left her along the way. Saying goodbye, my letter sealed, I walked into a land of mountains & Aryan tribes, where an Indus-Iranian woman made my wedding with invites from Carpathians to Himalayas. The entire dream played to the tune & faint whisper of Robert Burns’ song, _The Wren’s Nest_ :

The Robin to the Wren’s nest
Cam keekin’ in, cam keekin’ in;
O weel’s me on your auld pow,
Wad ye be in, wad ye be in?
Thou’s ne’er get leave to lie without,
And I within, and I within,
Sae lang’s I hae an auld clout
To rowe ye in, to rowe ye in.

{Translation}
The Robin to the Wren's nest
Came peekin in, came peekin in;
I'm blessed by your old noggin,
You want inside? You want inside?
You'll never get leave to lie outside,
While I inside, while I inside --
So long's I have an old cloth
To swaddle you in, to swaddle you in

The tail end of the dream featured Alan-Hugo, now one foot tall, hobbling on the crippled legs he'd willingly taken off the Jew, a man named Simon. Alan, barely able to walk, was his old, bold, joking self. Simon suddenly appeared, overjoyed to see him. The two reclined along a low table, laughing, telling stories, both so happy, their eyes went red with tears. I sat and watched them both, amazed, my face wet. Neither one remembered what deformity or pain meant.