[Matt Q]

Hi John,

I'm thinking that maybe "In a dream" works better to convey that spring exists (potentially only) in the dream. I'm not 100% sure why, but to me, "Still dreaming ..." gives me more of an impression that it's actually spring, that maybe what he sees is real and that he's still dreaming other things at the same time, or that the real spring is somehow woven into the dream. With "In a dream" it's clearer to me that what's being described is a dream. He's dreaming of an idyllic spring. I guess, "in a dream" can also mean something like "in a daze", but I didn't read it that way.

I'm not entirely sure what "spool a slip for last night's mooring" means, though I like the sound of it. Though it doesn't (I think) say this, it did make think that, in dreaming, he'd slipped from last night's mooring. And perhaps that the spring he dreams is the result of slipping from his mooring, that which held in place, tied him down, in escaping it, he'd found, in his dream, a better place. Though that's not what it says. For that it would need to be something like, "hear the new light spool, and slip from night’s last mooring." But as it stands: well I can imagine a slip (as in losing one's footing) being spooled, I think, but I'm not sure why/how it's "for" last night's mooring. Hmm. Or maybe "slip" is a slipknot? Something to cast over the mooring-post?

best,

Matt