Friday, October 26, 2007

All Fall Down

Ring around the rosie,
Pocketful of posies,
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down!

I don't know why, but I woke up this morning with this old Mother Goose nursery rhyme tinkling ominously in my head. Yes, ominously, because though I haven't thought about it for years and years, its simple lyric and rhythm have always evoked my worst and most undefinable fears, like the quiet, opening music to every scary movie that in childhood I told myself I would never, ever watch again. Hearing it in my head somehow presages the beginning of some nightmare with that barely audible refrain, just before the scarecrow inexplicably turns its head in an imitation of a man on the Cross, or birds like locusts appear --

Ting ka-ting katingting
Ting ka-ting katingking
Boom bam, boom bam
Baroom bam boom!

Is it a prophecy or a remembrance?

I can not tell. Perhaps, I shall figure it all out as the spears of the morning sun dispel the vaporous shield of the night and we all emerge into the common waking dream...Updates all day on this strange and evil day...

4 comments:

Dom Cimafranca said...

Well you should, Dean. That nursery rhyme is about the Black Death.

rc said...

No worries. Sleep well tonight:

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.asp

MBW said...

Hi Dean,

I had a jolted sleep too... I thought I heard my daughter say "Mamman" in French (she hardly speaks to me in French) and I jolted from sleep, looking around for her (in the dark, t'was still dark) but she wasn't there.

Of course, when we all finally got up in the morning, I asked her if she came into my bedroom at all sometime during the night and if she had wanted anything, she said no.

I think I might be just a tad worried about her Oxford entrance exams slated in the next few days which has been keeping her under stress too (she's already received an offer from 2 of top 10 UK unis but we're all a bit under stress because she wants to go to Oxford. She's also received a conditional offer from Harvard straight to 2nd year as she's predicted to obtain 42 points in IB but Dad refused to let her go to US, much too far...)

Might be same for you, i.e., worried about something.

cvj said...

By any chance did you leave the TV on? There was a feature on the Black Death either in National Geographic (or History Channel). Anyway, yesterday evening was also surreal for me. First, i found my umbrella in my laptop bag when i was sure it was not there last time i looked. Next, when i was jogging, in each of the corners, i passed a pregnant woman in a black dress although i'm sure it's a different woman each time since i was not jogging that slowly. Anyway, hope it's just a dream.