RING AROUND THE ROSIE (photo) & TRUE BELIEVER (tanka series) by Roswila

TRUE BELIEVER

she knows her purpose
is to assassinate him –
to achieve this end
she’s been thoroughly trained
in the martial arts

proof she’s both licensed
now and qualified for the job:
her long white earrings –
made of heavy linked rings
they hang onto her shoulders

as if their weight has
forced her ears briefly open,
she pauses to wonder
what she’d just heard singing
beneath the roar of her blood

but each of the rings
might as well be through her nose,
led inexorably
on as she is by the ancient
demand of imbedded belief


[four tanka on a dream of 8-24-12. Before I go on, I'll simply add that this dream really shook some stuff loose for me (in a very good way). That said, I've been reading "The Believing Brain" by Michael Shermer, a book about how we come to believe what we do, and was waiting for a belief theme to show up in my dreams. I'd already been becoming more and more aware of how illusory all perception (the source and back-up for beliefs) really is and the book supports this. But it also posits that there is a reality out there, just that it's not necessarily what we perceive/believe it to be. And how can we know this reality? The book posits by on-going application of the scientific method. Hm, maybe. The book mentions a part of our brain (left hemisphere interpreter) whose sole purpose is to put all the various input coming from the many different parts of our brain at any given waking moment into a coherent story line. As the book claims, stemming from our in-born survival mechanism of seeking patterns in what we perceive. I wonder if this is the part of the brain also responsible for our dream narratives? Especially if we understand dreams as our brain's night work filing the many bits and pieces of memories, feelings, thoughts, etc. into long term memory. Then that left hemisphere interpreter would kick in to try to make some sort of sense of each batch of filing, if you will. And if so, it would seem dreams and waking may be equally illusory, equally stories our left hemisphere interpreter creates in an attempt to make sense of a great deal of varied information. What also strikes me is that in each state -- waking or sleeping -- we rarely deeply question our perceptions. We tend to believe ourselves. Photo “Ring Around the Rosie…” 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.

BEFORE BESSEMER (photo) & Untitled (non-dream, scifaiku) by Roswila

burning
for you I become
someone else


[not dream based, written sometime in 2000. This was written as a scifaiku, a haiku-like form with a science fiction or fantasy theme. (Click here to read a post of mine with a more detailed definition, and samples.) Which means that the action described is meant to be taken literally. I.e., read as someone physically burning and transmogrifying, while hopefully still implying the "burning love" cliche. My excuse for foisting it upon you, dear reader, today? I wanted something to go with my above new photo “Before Bessemer,” and had no dream recall.]

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.

A TISKET, A TASKET (photo) & HANGING IN (dreamku series) by Roswila

HANGING IN

they bring their seven
babies of various ages
for a sleep-over,
this couple out of my long
ago tumultuous past

they set everything
up themselves, moving furniture
and setting up cribs,
for which I express my somewhat
embarrassed gratitude

I see their photo
shoot arranged in my hallway:
babies hang giggling
by their little hands from a
horizontal wooden dowel

my concern for their
baby shoulder joints is heard
but deemed a non-issue --
the three or four on the left
have bright golden hair …

and are arranged in
size order – their giggles are
highly infectious
and I still have no idea
why they are all here

The Hanging Man card* from an old deck flashes:
“He awaits the redemption of the act”


[five tanka and a two-liner of a dream of 8-22-12. *The Hanging Man Tarot card I “saw” was from a very old deck of mine (my first) – The New Tarot for the Aquarian Age by John Cooke and Rosalind Sharpe:


In this late 1960’s revisioning of the entire Tarot deck, this particular card is also said to be reversing the polarities in order to achieve unity, and to hang others only to redeem the Self (note that capital “s”). Most importantly, that “redemption is an enormous feat, involving the entire seeming outer world.” Oh well, all that said and I still don’t have a clue to this dream/ku but it was fun to reconnect with this old deck. Ooops! I take that back. That last quote about The Hanging Man just shook something out of the trees. Photo “A Tisket, A Tasket” 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.

GOLDEN GEESE (photo) & GETTING EXERCISED (dreamku series) by Roswila

GETTING EXERCISED

she’s an excellent
teacher – her instructions and
movements clear and paced
perfectly for this large class
of folk in various shape

she even slips in
individual guidance
as needed – so I
find it easy to filter out
her religious views

her beliefs aren’t mine
but they fuel the heart of this
exceptional teacher
and we all benefit from
her high energy care

so I’m dismayed when
the big boss tells me he’s
going to let her go
precisely because of her
religious expressiveness

it’s doubly shocking since
she, he, and most of the students
have the same religion
but they can't be seen as
supporting any one view

I’m stunned into slack-jawed silence
“politically correct" run amuck yet again


[five tanka and a two-liner on a dream of 8-21-12. Photo “Golden Geese” 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.

ALICE BLUE GOWN (photo) & IN THE ROUND (dreamku series) by Roswila

IN THE ROUND

we can clearly see
that his heart chakra’s not as
open as the others
this is surprising as he’s
always seemed a caring person

maybe, I say to
reassure his dearest friend,
his other chakras
spin ‘round his tightened heart to
support it ‘till it can open

these words have to squeeze
by a swelling in my throat
unexpected soft sobs


[two tanka and a dreamku on a dream of 8-20-12. Chakra, in Wikipedia. Photo “Alice Blue Gown” 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.

XULTUN TAROT EMPEROR CARD (Peter Balin, artist) & REVISITING THE EMPEROR (dreamku series by Roswila)

REVISITING THE EMPEROR

the nice young worker
sits with me a while before
his long ride home
each day he makes this trip
between wife and home, and work

he tries to focus
on my enthusiastic
talk about Tarot
I show him, card by card,
the gorgeous Xultun Tarot

but he falls asleep
I keep coming across IV,
The Emperor, and think how
much this young man resembles
this archetypal family man:

hard-working, resourceful, and generous
and at times simply in need of a good rest


[three tanka and a two-liner on a dream of 8-19-12. This was one of the rare dreams in which I dreamed largely in full color. The Xultun (Mayan) Tarot is by artist Peter Balin, and was published by Arcanum Publishing in 1978. Not only is its art unusual among the great variety of Tarot decks available, but it’s 22 majors (one “suit” of five in a Tarot deck) can be put together to form one complete picture – seen here:

The Emperor in the Xultun (Mayan) Tarot, at the top of this post, is the card I kept coming across in the dream. I think what may be pertinent here is reflected in an old post I made about The Emperor card to my tarot journal blog (click here to read it), in which I soften my view of the archetypal masculine. Somethings we just have to keep learning, again and again.]

PLEASE NOTE: I have changed the name of my digital photography blog from Opening to the Light to “Trying to Hold a Box of Light.” URL: tryingtoholdaboxoflight.blogspot.com.

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.