NARROW IS THE WAY (photo) & THE GREY (tanka dream series) by Roswila

THE GREY

we start off on a
journey through what will prove
to be a warren
of underground rooms
and long white-walled halls

my male companion,
a small quick-witted man
from India,
leads us in his search for
what I do not know

I’m not even sure
he knows himself but I trust
he will on finding it,
while I just enjoy the trip
and the folk we meet on the way

two women behind
a desk busy themselves even
as they chat with us
writing fan postcards to
a famous woman singer

in a cul de sac
we find sweet mourning for
a child who’d just died
we express our regrets
and turn around quietly

my companion moves
ahead of me in his pursuit --
I hear him calling
excitedly “Look what I’ve found!”
I hurry to his side

he holds a very
young grey kitten, quite large
in size, but so young
it doesn’t have ears yet
and its eyes aren’t open

he hands it to me --
this silent grey kitten the size
of a full grown cat
holds its heavy head high,
I see white fur at its throat

my companion, leaving
already, announces we can
take it back with us
but I’m concerned it’s mother
will follow us and make a fuss

that is, if it has
a mother anymore – I look
around for a nest
but find none among the
office shelves and furniture

still holding its head high
the kitten warms my palms and chest
what should I do


[ten tanka capped by a dreamku on a dream of 7-3-12. Photo “Narrow Is The Way” 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.

DARK MATTER RISING (photo) & BETTER (dreamku series)

BETTER

don’t remember where
I’ve been and gone but know
it’s better than here

I’ve only a faint
picture (was that something small
slipping along)
in a mind flinching away
from full wakefulness

and yearning to return
to sleep, to slide shapelessly
into an unknown
universe, not this stale one
filled with the same edgy demands

don’t recall where I
wandered all through the night
only that it’s better


[dreamku series on a night of unremembered dreams, 6-26-12. By the way, where I live all through the night is always better than here (except for the extremely rare true nightmare). So much so, that recently I’m finding it harder and harder to get up and not go back to sleep. I sleep too much as it is. That line at the end, of course, reminded me of the lullaby by the same title. So I googled it just to see what the lyrics might add to my understanding of this dream/ku. The first hit was for a Cindi Lauper song by the same name that I don’t recall hearing. These lines really struck me:

All through the night
Stray cat is crying so stray cat sings back
All through the night
They have forgotten what by day they lack

Synchronistically, I received the following in a daily haiku email on the day I wrote the above dreamku and notes. It was written two centuries ago by the haiku master Issa –

stray cat
all the long night is this your job?
yowling nearby

Photo “Dark Matter Rising” 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.

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.