Kisor Poem 3
Louise Glück is an American poet from the 20th century. Glück's poems often deal with sensitive subjects such as relationships, loneliness, family, and even divorce. In the poem, "The Dream", the speaker is divorced and had a dream about being married again. "I thought you hated diaries. // I keep them when I'm miserable. Anyway, / all those years I thought we were so happy / I had a lot of diaries." The speaker tells his ex that he was miserable almost the entire time within the marriage because of how many diaries he wrote. "Do you ever think about it? Do you ever wonder / if the whole thing was a mistake? Actually, / half the guests said that at the wedding. // I'll tell you something I never told you: / I took a valium that night." The speaker wonders if the whole thing was a mistake, and he tells the reader that all the guests were wondering if it was a mistake at the wedding. The speaker was so worried, if it was a mistake, during the wedding he even took a valium, which is a pill that treats anxiety. "on top of them. Doesn't that still seem / an image of contentment, of well being? So / why couldn't it go on longer? //Because it was a dream." The speaker ends the poem wondering if he was so content with the life he had, why didn't it last longer?
Louise Glück
I had the weirdest dream. I dreamed we were married again.
You talked a lot. You kept saying things like this is realistic.
When I woke up, I started reading all my old diaries.
I thought you hated diaries.
I keep them when I’m miserable. Anyway,
all those years I thought we were so happy
I had a lot of diaries.
Do you ever think about it? Do you ever wonder
if the whole thing was a mistake? Actually,
half the guests said that at the wedding.
I’ll tell you something I never told you:
I took a valium that night.
I keep thinking of how we used to watch television,
how I would put my feet up in your lap. The cat would sit
on top of them. Doesn’t that still seem
an image of contentment, of well being? So
why couldn’t it go on longer?
Because it was a dream.
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