THE SPINE OF NIGHT (photo) & MEN, AND THEN SOME (dream tanka series) by Roswila

MEN, AND THEN SOME

first and always there’s the
tall dark man, if not front and center
then on his way back in
or leaving his enigmatic mark
on each scene he exits

then the male tourists
pale and short of stature
ogling her figure
she’s both flattered and scared
as she hurries to dance class

she relaxes as
a fair-haired man stops dancing
and confides in her:
he’ll figure out his feelings
without any help from others

a vapid handsome
celebrity quits dance class
he whispers to her
of his plans to move up town
and would she like to move too

she and the tall dark
man briefly slip into the past
they view a few scenes
of a famous violent
movie from a safe distance

the tall dark man
and she flash back to dance class
he sets up his harp
she offers help but with the
caveat: she may not know how


[six tanka on the dreams of 12-4-12. Photo “The Spine of Night” 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.

Further, haiku afficianado and translator David Gerard said in a recent post: “One of the most important aspects of haiku is that much is left ambiguous, unspoken, undefined. Ludmila Balabanova writes, ‘Haiku isn't a perception shared by the author, but an invitation to the reader to achieve his own enlightenment.’” To that I add that the same might be said of all the dreamku, and dream-based tanka, two-liners, and monoku on this blog.

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.