HIGH MAINTENANCE (photo) & WHEN HUNGRY HOUSES ATTACK (renku, non-dream-based) by Roswila

WHEN HUNGRY HOUSES ATTACK

the over stuffed chair
will not let go
appetizer

the carpet trips her up
meat tenderized

fingers caught
in snapping drawers
tasty tidbits

boiled in the shower
low calorie cooking

midnight snack
the yawning cabinet door
chews at her

the house groans
it’s never enough


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"When Hungry Houses Attack" was written in April of 2006, and was posted here probably in late 2008. When I came across it last night I got caught up in making some minor revisions that ambushed me. I’m re-posting it today as not only does this ersatz renku (see next paragraph) still seem relevant -- the older one gets the more one is stalked by one’s home, I think -- but it’s time for some just plain silliness.

The form this is written in was inspired by the Japanese form, renku (or renga). Mine above is definitely not a true renku, but resembles it in the alternating 3 and 2 lines. Here are a couple links if you’re curious about actual renku:
AHA Poetry article (lengthy in-depth exploration of renku/renga; essentially a Japanese form usually written by two or more persons alternating in lines of 3 and 2, each written in response to the previous lines; this response is called “linking,” it is probably the single most important aspect of renga (of which there are many) and is often very subtle; clearly, my renga above is not meant to be taken as a serious attempt at the form); and a sample renga (a stunning solo renga by Jane Reichhold)

Photo “High Maintenance” by Roswila.

PLEASE NOTE that I never have nor do I now lay claim to having been the first to suggest writing about our dreams in the haiku form. In fact, the haijin (Haiku Masters of centuries ago) sometimes wrote haiku on dreams. But even more importantly, what I have been developing for several years now on this blog is not even truly haiku or tanka or monoku. The ways in which I have been using and experimenting with these forms makes the results more akin to kissing cousins of these small Eastern poetry forms. Therefore, I mostly use the term "dreamku" to distinguish what I do from those traditional forms. Click here for a more in-depth INTRODUCTION than follows below, including links to my THREE PART PRIMER on the basic (most haiku-like) dreamku form.

Also, the photo accompanying a daily dream poem or non-dream based poem is not necessarily meant to illustrate it, but to reflect some small, even slant aspect of the verse -- similar to Japanese haiga (illustrated haiku). I've also recently realized that although the dreamku (i.e. dream based poems) posted here tend not to have metaphor or simile, the accompanying photos almost always act as such.

To write a metaphor or simile into a dream scenario is something I rarely do. It can be confusing: did it really look like a hand, say, in the dream, or am I just being poetic to make my conscious point? As these dreamku act as a dream journal, my over-riding tendency is to try to stay close to the actual dream scenario itself. Admittedly making for a tendency to less "poetic" dreamku. Then why pay attention to any haiku, tanka, or monoku parameters at all when writing about my dreams? Because I find in even attempting to adhere to them I'm making choices that relieve my dream recall of a great deal of chatter so that I can get down to some important dream aspects. Here's a link to THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING PHOTOS in which I go into some of the basic parameters for dreamku and the photos chosen to go with them (and with any non-dream based poems I post here, as well).

The archives in the sidebar hold years of the daily dreamku, tanka, monoku and photo posts I've made, grouped in one post by month. As I no longer post dreamku (or non-dream based poems) strictly daily, each post will appear below and then in the archives by the day on which it was posted.

There are many other sorts of posts here, not all dream-based. I indicate which are about or influenced by dreams. Some non-dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems (some by other writers than myself), scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006 in the sidebar.

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‘til next time, keep dreaming,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
**** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) **** My other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and OPENING TO THE LIGHT ****