Toasted Rakes
Written by Sherilyn Lim for English National Opera's Mini Opera script competition, based on Neil Gaiman's The Sweeper of Dreams.
Summary: The Dream Sweeper cautions the dreamer against recalling their dreams, but eventually leads them to his categorised archive of dreams. At the end he makes them forget again, because he must.
Toasted Rakes
Don't try to remember. But if you must -
Come with me, into the dead of night.
I am one of thousands.
You know us. You've always known.
It is not that we are hidden -
We are here.
When you wake up in the morning
Seeing your face in the mirror
You sense a flickering memory
That quickly fades.
Don't try to remember. But if you must -
Come with me, into the dead of night.
I have kept them here in wooden boxes
Neatly stacked behind bowls of tears
Nestled beside bottles of smells
It is not that I've hid it -
It is here.
Look through the view-master -
What do you see?
Feel the thunder upon cold glass -
What do you hear?
You try to remember. And so you must -
Come with me, into the dead of night.
I have your every dream in these boxes
Sorted alphabetically, numerically,
And colexicographically.
Does it come under Z for Xylophones,
K for Nettled Aunts?
B for Glowing Rabbits,
Or R for Crimson Blood?
Are they labeled Lisping Thespians,
University Captains,
Foundling giants,
Or Corrugated Dials?
And then you remember, because you must -
Talk with me, into the dead of night.
A whiff of dog you say? A candle burning bright?
A jet black pebble lying on a red-paved road?
You hear the growling echo of the hound in your mind
And you wonder: when will it be time?
Ah! Here it is, I've found it thus:
Darling citrus, Prancing lake,
Hushed animals, toasted rakes.
23 minutes and 7 seconds -
And you hear that sound of scuttling beetles.
You remember. And so you do.
Come with me, into the dead of night.
All this you will forget when you awake
Even now as you clutch your box of dreams.
When you try to remember
I will sweep them away
For fear you will never dream again.
Your tears continue to fall
Although you don't know why.
There whispering
My broom a-whispering
As you try to remember it all.
Summary: The Dream Sweeper cautions the dreamer against recalling their dreams, but eventually leads them to his categorised archive of dreams. At the end he makes them forget again, because he must.
Toasted Rakes
Don't try to remember. But if you must -
Come with me, into the dead of night.
I am one of thousands.
You know us. You've always known.
It is not that we are hidden -
We are here.
When you wake up in the morning
Seeing your face in the mirror
You sense a flickering memory
That quickly fades.
Don't try to remember. But if you must -
Come with me, into the dead of night.
I have kept them here in wooden boxes
Neatly stacked behind bowls of tears
Nestled beside bottles of smells
It is not that I've hid it -
It is here.
Look through the view-master -
What do you see?
Feel the thunder upon cold glass -
What do you hear?
You try to remember. And so you must -
Come with me, into the dead of night.
I have your every dream in these boxes
Sorted alphabetically, numerically,
And colexicographically.
Does it come under Z for Xylophones,
K for Nettled Aunts?
B for Glowing Rabbits,
Or R for Crimson Blood?
Are they labeled Lisping Thespians,
University Captains,
Foundling giants,
Or Corrugated Dials?
And then you remember, because you must -
Talk with me, into the dead of night.
A whiff of dog you say? A candle burning bright?
A jet black pebble lying on a red-paved road?
You hear the growling echo of the hound in your mind
And you wonder: when will it be time?
Ah! Here it is, I've found it thus:
Darling citrus, Prancing lake,
Hushed animals, toasted rakes.
23 minutes and 7 seconds -
And you hear that sound of scuttling beetles.
You remember. And so you do.
Come with me, into the dead of night.
All this you will forget when you awake
Even now as you clutch your box of dreams.
When you try to remember
I will sweep them away
For fear you will never dream again.
Your tears continue to fall
Although you don't know why.
There whispering
My broom a-whispering
As you try to remember it all.