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Wednesday, March 23, 2022

DON'T TOUCH MY DREAMS

by George Salamon


Illustration by Beppe Giacobbe for Harper’s Magazine


"Can technology shape our dreams?" 
—Michael W. Clune, "Engineering our dreams," Harper's Magazine, April 2022


My dreams are true, because they occur,
they are false, because only I see them.
It's an awe-inspiring arrangement, it
is both darkness and light, it frustrates
and enlightens, it is a human thing.
The heart beats as we sleep, our
eyes write down the stuff of dreams,
dreams remain within and out of our
world.

Our soul is endowed with two eyes,
one watches the passing of hours on
the clock, the other sees through the
the borders of time, until watching
passes into seeing through, and the
dream endures within us.
I don't want technology to tamper with
this burden and gift.


George Salamon is not happy about what technology has done to "engineer" our engaging and communicating with each other and wants it to keep its metallic hands off our dreaming, the happy dreams and nightmares.