the nightmare quilt
(sarah cornwell, actlab 11.2008)
We
don't ask for nightmares. In dreams, our subconscious minds show
us familiar things in unfamiliar ways that can amuse, illuminate, or
terrify. This quintessential uncanniness of dreams is
When I was a child, I hung a Native American dreamcatcher above my bed
to snare bad dreams before they could penetrate my sleep. My
mother put Guatemalan worry dolls under my pillow to absorb my worries
and fears. The nightmare quilt is the opposite; the anti-charm. I am making bedclothes out of terror.
