When I started to say it was another rough month (albeit with signs of change), I recalled what other folk on our planet are going through with earthquakes, snowstorms, tsunamis, economic recessions, etc. And was reminded to be even more than usually grateful. We did see some increase in water levels in our harbors here during that recent tsunami alert, but that was more a matter of interest for most of us and some brief inconvenience for boat owners who had to get their vessels out of harbors for a while to be sure they were safe.
Given all this, I won’t complain. I’ll simply let the ‘kus and photos speak for themselves.
ALL DAILY DREAMKU, DREAM TANKA, AND PHOTOS BY ROSWILA POSTED IN FEBRUARY 2010
[PLEASE NOTE that in most browsers you can click on the image for a larger version.]
February 1, 2010
I imagine it lifting me the large curvy tree branch
[old one-liner (monoku) on an old dream of 1-4-07. Wrote this on my birthday, three years ago. And, as with most of these old dream/ku I've been posting I can still very clearly recall the dream, that yearning to be lifted up. Image by Roswila]
February 2, 2010
if she doesn't push
she'll regain all of her vision
impatient seer
[old dreamku on an old dream of 4-18-08. Image by Roswila (Yeah, that photo is a self-portrait of sorts; fooling around with the three way mirror in my new rooms)]
February 3, 2010
he says the invasion
is for her own good
deluded martian
[old dreamku on an old dream of 5-1-06. Image by Roswila]
February 4, 2010
BONE DEEP
my former roommate
and I share a narrow bed
her surprise visit
she moves me taking
my hand and talking softly
we switch sides
I wake with great pain
in my right hand and shoulder
wondering if she came
after all this time to alert me
to this bone deep aching
[two dreamku and a tanka on a dream of 2-3-10. This is an example of a prodromal dream. A dream that is telling us something about our bodies. In this case, the very real intense pain I occasionally get in my right shoulder and hand when I sleep on my right side. Most prodromal dreams I’ve read about have given the dreamer warning about a developing physical illness. That sort I’ve not had – at least that I’ve been aware of. But it’s not unusual for me to have a dream that reflects the conditions in which I’m sleeping. (E.g., back in my teens I dreamed I was hugely pregnant and woke with the our family’s small dachshund sleeping curled up on my stomach.) It is always possible this dream about my actual former roommate has “meaning” beyond getting me to change my sleeping position. After all, why did my dreaming mind choose her and not some other person, or even a make up character or other sort of action, for this task? Image by Roswila]
February 5, 2010
HOLDING THE BAG
the plan was for an
all white western style outfit
my wedding gown
it doesn’t look quite right
I delay the ceremony
to choose better clothes
who can I trust to hold
my small black shoulder bag
it would stand out
far too much against a white
skirt and cowboy themed shirt
at last, the best outfit!
punk style, black skirt, white jacket,
plunging black and silver
down the streamlined neck line:
now I can hold my own bag
[two dreamku and two tanka on a dream of 2-2-10. Image by Roswila]
February 6, 2010
FANTASYLAND
woodland book cover
a young dark centaur looks back
over his shoulder
the title appears
in white cyrillic style script
on the shadowed painting:
“She Saw Two Dragons
Fly Out of His Ears”
[dreamku and tanka on a dream of 2-5-10. I laughed on recalling this dream and thought what a relief to have a totally silly dream for a change. Image by Roswila]
February 7, 2010
mickey mouse ears
cut from construction paper
two complete sets
I put on a pair to show a friend
they’re more like blue hearts
[tanka on a dream of 2-6-10. Image by Roswila]
February 8, 2010
trenchant sayings
all in an orderly stack
the most important
the last: Not Permissible,
Pain For Pain’s Sake Only
[tanka on a dream of 2-7-10. Image by Roswila]
February 9, 2010
THE BEST REVERB
we quietly wait
in a long outdoor line
hazy sunlight
bowl-shaped and woven
with a faint iridescence
the drum I pick up
spontaneous jam
I join in producing
a fast steady beat
from far down the line
a man sings softly along
do I know him
I try drumming on
the small round base of the bowl
inside approach
the best reverb of all
the sunlight brightens
[four dreamku and a tanka on a dream of 2-7-10. Image by Roswila]
February 10, 2010
all her eggs come from
contaminated chickens
he shoots each bird
[dreamku on a dream of 2-9-10. Image by Roswila.]
February 11, 2010
new meaning for the
Rider-Waite-Smith Two of Wands:
This far, and no farther
[dreamku on a dream of 2-10-10. Ah! It's been a long time since the Tarot showed up (at least in an obvious way) in my dreams. This is the card I "saw" in the dream:
from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. A common name for this card in other decks is "Dominion," which I "heard" referenced in the dream, along with that last line in the dreamku. That last line is a somewhat new slant for me on this card and on the idea of dominion over one's own life. Image above the dreamku, by Roswila]
February 12, 2010
MIDNIGHT SWIM
moonlight through windows
we swim up from deep water
beneath the wood floor
covering the floor
a thick oil slick holds us back
is there enough air
telling the others
to stay and wait for me
I dive back down
to look for water tunnels
I recall down there, somewhere
there’s enough air for now
but they decide to follow me
underwater swim
long narrow tunnel of water the way out
[three dreamku, a tanka, and a monoku on a dream of 2-11-10. Image by Roswila]
February 13, 2010
long way down
to keep from falling I grab
my friend’s collar
[old dreamku on an old dream of 10-1-06. Image by Roswila]
February 14, 2010
disposable blades
even shaving cannot prove
they're adult males
[old dreamku on an old dream of 10-16-06. Image by Roswila]
February 15, 2010
DEEP WATER
two men friends walk up
the narrow canyon trail side
rushing river echos
the larger of the two
needs help when the trail switches sides
a friendly hand across
I await my turn
on a ledge just below them
they haul me up
all three of us
overbalance off the trail
long fall to the river
sweet air whistles by
I take a deep breath thinking
we’ll just start over
deep water plunge
I’m grateful for filled lungs and
for missing the rock walls
[dreamku series on a dream of 2-14-10. Image by Roswila]
February 16, 2010
a huge field of folk
burrow under the surface
fellow prey
[old dreamku on an old dream of 9-16-07. The image I chose? Those crows had flown up from bird seed feeders on the ground when startled by a passerby. But I'm also sort of playing with reversing the image from one of underground to one way above ground and how might those be similar? Image by Roswila]
February 17, 2010
RISING HUNGER
we carefully plan
and execute stealing her
child and infant back
the cult’s control tight but not
total or unshakable
the task now how to
free her from their ancient grip
twilight spreads
we bait her with food her rising hunger
[a tanka, dreamku, and monoku on a dream of 2-16-10. Image by Roswila]
February 18, 2010
the dangling pearl's
an ancient poverty sign
protected portal
[old dreamku on an old dream of 7-26-07. I'm associating to the parable of
the "pearl of great price." Yeah, I get it now. Sigh. No wonder I chose this dream/ku to post today. That is, only the search for spiritual growth and effort that costs us everything is worth anything at all; offers any safety at all -- when there's nothing to lose, one is safe. I.e., giving all attachments up we gain all. So, can I rest now, please? That was not easy to take in. The portal did not open readily to that understanding. Ah! Maybe the protected portal was representing my resistance. And so another dream's layers peel away, like those accreted to make a pearl. Image by Roswila]
February 19, 2010
WHY
my last employer
gifts me with a silver-toned
light metal necklace
why this generosity
when she never liked me much
it takes a lot
of trial and error
unfolding it just right
I’m all thumbs as I fit
the knife next to my throat
the etched designs swirl the edge no danger
[two tanka and a monoku on a dream of 2-18-10. Image (St. Michael's Church) by Roswila]
February 20, 2010
ENDLESS
an endless journey
I don’t recall getting off
the long distance bus
in the small town
I climb a hill toward tracks
freight trains only
turning back I’m awed
by the setting sun behind
a pink petaled tree
I clutch for my camera
but can’t take any photos
I escape, tumbling
through a basement window
room of unbaled cotton
no safety even
in this deeply buffered space
looming messy man
he tries to catch me
but I elude his dark grasp
I gather my gifts
holding my treasures
I enter a sunlit room
middle-aged men
a tall blonde man
stands closely behind me
what’s his intention
I chatter on about
a small trinket in my hand
he backs off angry
a woman’s also
angry I’d not responded
to his come-on
no understanding for my
intense insecurities
I yell at her and
she scrambles under a bed
same old impasse
[dreamkus and tankas on a dream of 2-18-10. Image by Roswila]
February 21, 2010
the wounded boy’s voice
rises high above the wind
a sweet soprano
“I live like an iris
in a lava flow”
[new tanka on an old dream of 8-14-06. I originally wrote and posted a Tarot dreamku on this dream: “the lava flow/parts around the iris/temperance,” as the dream has strong images that appear on The Temperance card in The Tarot. However, in going over my dreamku notebooks recently I felt there’s a lot more to this dream I wanted to record, so I wrote the above tanka. Image by Roswila]
February 22, 2010
she's fired, meanwhile Dad
sneaks a smoke in the shower
I turn a blind eye
[dreamku on a dream of 2-21-10. Image by Roswila]
February 23, 2010
TWISTER
cloudy morning
I start walking on dockside
toward the dining room
a male acquaintance
greets and walks along with me
pre-breakfast stroll
the clouds gather darkening
above the choppy water
he needs help
I lift him on my back
and trudge onward
the sky looms black
I stop abruptly in my tracks
“It’s a twister,” I say
“and headed right toward us,
duck and cover, right now!”
we hit the dock
as I hide my head I see flames
in the twister’s heart
whirling wind, water
and flame skims over us
is my friend all right
I peer back over my shoulder my friend’s smile
[four dreamku, two tanka, and a monoku on a dream of 2-22-10. Image by Roswila]
February 24, 2010
the front door blocked
the fireplace barricaded
there's still no stopping it
[old dreamku on an old dream of 8-25-06. Image by Roswila -- In choosing this photo, I'm playing on closed/open, and the inevitability of changes. That rose garden goes through constant changes (big and small) year round.]
February 25, 2010
NOW WHAT?
tricky dream
of a van that should be wet
dry as a bone
of an old lady who’s
afraid to swim but wades right in
my fancy new clothes
of the steep bank from
which I jump feet first in the flood
how will I fare
of arm over arm
hurting but the side-stroke’s a cinch
so, now what?
[dreamku series on a dream of 2-25-10. Image by Roswila.]
February 26, 2010
FOLDED FUCHSIA
Mother Dragon’s claws
are folded fuchsia and huge
cold grey castle
they are lined up prone
I have to look up to see
Her talons’ rounded tops
within their curves rest
many smaller fuchsia claws
Her sleeping babes
[dreamku series of a dream of 2-25-10. This is one of those dreams that I enjoy purely for the imagery. Image by Roswila]
February 27, 2010
from her earthbound stance
she reaches to put a tag on
a sky satellite
it spins trailing the small flag
as she completes her night’s work
[tanka written a couple of weeks ago on a failed dream/ku from April 2003. Image by Roswila]
February 28, 2010
her gorgeous new clothes:
African motif, earthy tones
with matching headband
I comment from the toilet
unconcerned with my exposure
[tanka on a dream of 2-27-10. Image by Roswila (B-Lounge, Friendship Manor, where I live).]
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