THE DISPLAY (photo) & THE ARTIST VIEWS HER WORK (dream tanka trio) by Roswila

THE ARTIST VIEWS HER WORK

two of her huge glass
worms curve horizontally along
the art gallery walls
their colorless clarity
bending the overhead light

only their round eyes
and the aura from their heads
bear any color,
a soft translucent coral
offering a hint of warmth

she views the great length
of each of the worms in turn
surprised at her ease:
every curve is where it should be
she’d change nothing about them at all


[three tanka on a dream of 11-4-12. Laugh – Out – Loud! I’ve had tremendous fun with worm associations while writing this tanka trio, though there are too many of them -- all applicable in some way -- to comment on here. So I’ll simply share my uppermost thoughts. First, I’m really encouraged by that total acceptance at the end. (I’m a rather compulsive editor and reviser; nothing is ever right or enough. Nor can I leave my past alone, let it be what it was. I’m always trying to find some new or better way to understand it.) I also like that “she” has been making art out of worms -- lemonade out of lemons, anyone? Second, is a gentle butt kicking. As I was feeling sorry for myself yesterday I recalled an expression my father used on me when I was a kid. I’d be whining, yes, but sometimes genuinely trying to get his help with the pain and confusion of feeling disliked. He’d respond with our family’s version of a kid’s rhyme: “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I’m gonna go sit in the garbage and eat worms.” I’d laugh but, of course, it was rarely a satisfying or helpful response to have received. However, the laugh I got out of it yesterday freed me from an intense mental mire, allowing me to gain perspective. Last, I look forward to exploring that “soft translucent coral” color a bit more, using Bob Hoss’s color in dreams chart. My gut take right now is that it’s pointing towards something new, possibly that acceptance at the end. Photo “The Display” 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 TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.