Beyond my window, sailing ships cross vast oceans, chasing adventure I can only dream of. Within my home, there is warmth and light against the dark. There are flowers from my garden and tea and the occasional glass of wine.
I have everything I could—or should—want. I will never want for food or comfort. But my soul cries out for more. It cries out for the ship beyond my window. It cries out for the crashing waves of distant shores, for voices in languages I do not speak, for cultures beyond…beyond that which I’ve always known.
My imagination takes me there, soaring on the same wind that fills the ship’s sails as it passes in the night. The wind dies to a breeze, gently deposits me on a far away dock, oh so different from the one from which my ships depart with goods to trade for exotic spices and silks. They will return some months hence. I will smell those spices, run those silks through my fingers.
I am no sailor. I cannot sail the seas. I will not see those distant lands. But bits of them will return with my captains. I am a purveyor of fine goods, feeding the needs of others, as I feed my own dreams.
I set my pen down as the baby cries. It is Charlotte’s feeding time. I close the journal in which I write my imaginings. Perhaps, when she is older, I will write a book. But for now, the dream is enough, and my child needs me.
I created this image from a prompt based on a Haiku in Jason McBride’s newest book, Wild Divinity. You can buy this beautifully illustrated book of poetry on Amazon. Here on Substack, you can read his poetry and musings on life on Weirdo Poetry.
The Haiku on which I based the prompt came from Wild Divinity. Jason has kindly given me permission to use his haiku as prompts and in t-shirt designs. If you buy the book, see if you can figure out which haiku I used. (Jason—do you know?)
I wasn’t sure where this story was going to take me. The image shows a cozy, comfortable space, probably belonging to someone of means. Yet the ship sailing outside beckons to me, calling to me. I want to know where it’s going and what it will find when it arrives. I want to take that journey too.
I share the protagonist’s desire to step outside my daily life, if only in my imagination. I’m so glad I get to do it with images as well as words.
Here are a few more images I created from the prompt.
Do we all have dream worlds and dream adventures? I know I do. As a child, I was chastised in class because my eyes, my imagination, were always out the window and I still sit and stare. The first thing I do every morning is throw open the blinds even though the scene never changes. I really like story, it touches the heart of me ❤️
Beautiful image, interesting that a purveyor of goods is a young mother. Dreams!