In the interpretation of dreams,
It’s Old Wives versus bearded mystics
As guides along hallucinatory streams;
Such are the contenders:
Not Oedipus sex but Cook who fixes
And innards renders.
With senses in flood
In thickening clabber nights,
A course of metabolites —
Images flow; each veinlet sessile’s
Served platelets of the blood
On bone china vessels.
Old Wives – Refers to “old wives’ tales,” i.e., traditional lore, especially beliefs that certain foods can induce or hinder sleep or nightmares.
Clabber – Curdled milk.
Course – A play on two meanings: 1) a part of a meal; and 2) a route over which something flows, such as a streambed.
Metabolites – (Pronounced me-TAB-a-lites) Products of metabolism.
Sessile – (Pronounced SES-il) Fixed in place at a base not on a stalk; not free-moving; used to describe leaves and organisms.
Platelet – A disk-shaped component of vertebrate blood.
Bone china – Porcelain made of clay mixed with bone ash; it is famous for its whiteness and translucence.
…each veinlet sessile’s / Served platelets… – Here “’s” is an ambiguous abbreviation for either “is served” or “has served.”