GRAFFITI BRUSH (photo) & INTANGIBLE LESSON (tanka series) by Roswila

INTANGIBLE LESSON

writing on the wall:
“Which of these two is better?”
a teacher’s voice asks;
the questioner no more present
than the authors to be judged,

even my fellow
students only implied by
the classroom setting …
so, what strikes me at first
about these two samples is shape

though both new authors
chose to challenge tradition,
writing in long lines
way past some paragraph margins,
each sample remains distinct

somehow I am sure
I know which is considered
the best of the two:
the right-hand one lends itself
readily to comprehension

the left-hand one? well,
it never seems quite finished --
the wall suddenly
slips away from beneath it
I reflexively reach out

my hand meets that
of the ghostly author as we
slide the wall back up –
the left-hand words move on again
transforming as they go


[tanka series on a dream of 6-30-12. It was a nice break from posting. I did a lot of maintenance, updating, and record-keeping during the time away and am quite ready to start again. (You may notice a new, much shorter intro and signature below.) I have a batch of dreamku awaiting posting and chose this one simply because it references, at least in part, the craft of writing. Photo “Graffiti Brush” by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- are offered in the spirit of collaboration. I have done my part. Now it’s your turn to jump in and see what comes up for you. I.e., there is no right or wrong way to understand or interpret any of these dream offerings. Even my own understandings of them change over time. And it gives me joy when a reader sees something in any of them that I have not.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- a brief post about both dreamku and my photos THE AREN'TS OF DREAMKU & ACCOMPANYING DIGITAL PHOTOS.

-- detailed three-part post about dreamku: "A DREAMKU PRIMER: Writing Haiku-Like Poems About Your Night Dreams": PART ONE: Introduction & Writing Dreamku as Dream Work; PART TWO: Elements of the Haiku Form Used in Dreamku; and PART THREE: How to Write Dreamku (the second and third parts have some overlap).

-- a brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *

‘til next time, keep dreaming,






If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”). Roswila's other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and OPENING TO THE LIGHT.