Sanctuary of Dreams

A poem exploring themes of companionship and imagination.

This poem is part of the NaPoWriMo 2025 challenge to write a poem a day in April. This is the prompt for April 17.

The surrealist painters Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington moved to Mexico during the height of World War II, where they began a life-long friendship. Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem themed around friendship, with imagery or other ideas taken from a painting by Carrington, and a painting by Varo.

I took inspiration from a painting of women around a table with 2 Siamese cats by Carrington, a painting by Varo, Cats Paradise, and our own Siamese cats from years ago.

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In a hidden sanctuary,
we two women, creators of worlds,  
sit at a round table,  
the surface alive with colors,  
the vibrant echoes of our laughter—
a kaleidoscope of memories,  
where dreams unfold, unhurried,  
as twin Siamese cats lounge,  
their eyes gleaming with secrets.

Each canvas a dialogue,  
a silent exchange of souls,  
as the air thickens with possibility,  
and the walls breathe stories untold.  
I, with my wild imaginings,  
invoke the cosmos in the curl of a tail,  
while you weave myths  
with threads of unearthly grace.

In this sacred space,  
cats stretch like thoughts unbound,  
pawing at the fringes of reality,  
as the world outside dissolves—
people snatched, disappearing;
but here, within the 
embrace of companionship,  
we defy time,  
crafting a paradise of shared dreams.

We laugh and create,  
the weight of existence lifted,  
each moment a joy,  
each glance a promise,  
as the Siamese cats curl closer,  
purrs reverberating between us,
guardians of this sanctuary,  
where friendship flourishes,  
a garden of imagination,  
vibrant and alive,  
defiant in its beauty.

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