THE NATURE OF DREAMING (photo) & OLD SCHOOL (dreamku series) by Roswila

OLD SCHOOL

schools out of her past --
up close and at a distance --
inform the night’s dreams
why this return to high school
to college hallways and stairs

what’s to be learned back
there, or rather what about
now echoes those years
of lonely achievement
and proud creative denial

the years in which hope
first became a regular guest
heralding failure


[two tanka and a dreamku on a dream of 8-1-12. The key to this dream/ku is in the title. When I thought of the title’s idiomatic meaning of being stuck in old or traditional ways, this rather vaguely recalled dream opened up for me. As I’ve noted here before, this is one of the reasons I always try to find a title that feels just right for a dreamku series. That search sometimes boils the dream/ku down to an important essence I may not have gotten to otherwise. I also enjoy the way a dream can make a point with a visual pun. In this case, by showing one old school of mine after another. Photo “The Nature of Dreaming” 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.