Dreams of a Samurai

I dreamed of a virile lord,
a swirling spectre of berry red
with a thick brush
of ebony hair and beard,
and lethally sharpened swords,
skilled on the battlefield
with weapons and with words.

I was the model of modest
femininity, a passionate
but submissive lover,
a future wife waiting
at the gate for the samurai
of my wildest dreams
and a bed not quite so empty. 

Kim M. Russell, 27th January 2026

Image by Andrej Lišakov on Unsplash

Sanaa is our host for this week’s Tuesday Poetics at the dVerse Poets Pub, with the theme of dream interpretations.

She first explores what the state of dreaming is, summarizing, “In a quieter sense, dreaming is the psyche talking to itself when it no longer has to perform— when it can be strange, honest, tender, or cruel without consequence. It’s thinking without defence.”

Sanaa also shares two of her favourite poems about dreams by Langston Hughes and Michael Colliler.

Sanaa would like us to write poems that interpret dreams, for example about falling, where falling is not fear, but release, or about missing a train.

I reworked an old poem originally published in Visual Verse back in 2018.

27 thoughts on “Dreams of a Samurai”

  1. This is exquisitely woven, Kim! I love the “swirling spectre of berry red,” a fine description of the samurai as he moves like lightening with his sword. The closing line left me wanting more! Thank you so much for writing to the prompt ❤️❤️

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