Sweet Dreams are Made of This, Riverview Hospital, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract, Fine Art, Flash Fiction, Poetry, Samsung Galaxy S5
by Patrick Jennings

Corridor Dreaming

I dream of corridors
Every one different
But all the same

The light is soft
Though harsh
Streaming in
Through doors
All open
On the right

An inviting light
Nonetheless too bright
And as I tread
Ever-so-gingerly
Down the corridor

Peering into every door
I see nothing inside
But the inviting
And so very frightening
Harsh soft light

So I turn my gaze
Again
Down the corridor
With its bright lit doors
And the end
Which always seems to be
The same number
Of somehow
Uncountable doors
Away

Close enough
To see
There is a wall
Though far enough
Not to know
If it is an end

Or just a bend
Perhaps going right
Into that damnably
Inviting light

Or left
Into the
Unfathomably
Comforting
Shadows

To which
All the doors
On the left
Are locked

So here am I
In a dream
Caught between
Light and shadow
Walking toward
A never-ending
End

From which I’ll wake
And recognise
The corridor
Of my life

Dream Corridor
Riverview Hospital
Coquitlam
British Columbia, Canada

Taken on location for The Magicians, Season 2, 2016

After posting this pic and poem I had another idea for words based on the image, created the poem from them, and then created another variation of the same image to suit the words. That post became It Is What It Never Was.

I enjoyed that enough that I’m now creating a series of pics and words all sharing in common the original photograph of a hallway in a now defunct mental hospital. With each post, I’ll alter the image to see what words will come of the process. Sometimes, I’ll begin with the words and alter the photograph to suit them.

I’m calling this series Variations on a Hallway.