FACING UP (photo) & BLANDED (tanka pair) by Roswila

BLANDED

no, there’s no romance
between us, both he and I
softly assert --
his denial, though, wanders
all over the place

so embarrassed that
someone thought he was with me,
this large old woman,
he phumphers his response
youthful face carefully bland


[two tanka on a dream of 8-5-12. No dream recall from last night, so I’m posting this nearly month-old dreamku. It’s one of those dreams that “decoded” for me a puzzling interaction I’d had the previous day. It also reflects a decades old memory. Certain attitudes do not change. Photo “Facing Up” 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.

NIGHT GYM (photo) & PIPE DREAM (tanka series) by Roswila

PIPE DREAM

her labeling worked!
she’s found it again despite
the time and distance,
this Rube Goldberg cum Escher
cum metal pipe jungle gym

some of its corners
fade into other dimensions
and its grey surface
is only mildly reflective
but here it is, within her grasp

her pale pink labels
cannot be re-attached
she writes up new ones
she won’t risk forgetting where
she’s filed this cool contraption


[three tanka on a dream of 8-28-12. What fun! A dream about what I believe is the basic function of dreaming: filing and re-filing memories, thoughts, experiences and making new neural connections (in this dream’s metaphor, labeling and cross-referencing them). But of course, as with almost all dreams, there’s much more to it. E.g, worry over the inevitable changes in recall as I age. Also, that new understandings I’ve been developing and trying to effectively retain and act from within, are just a pipe dreams, just more intriguing contraptions. I also find this dream’s contraption being grey and only mildly reflective, fuel for further thought. Hm, as if it’s still not fully retrieved. Well, maybe there is a specific Rube Goldberg-esque neural network of mine (way of understanding and therefore behaving) I’ve yet to bring fully to light. It would certainly be wonderful not only to simplify my outer life (as I’ve been working at doing for some time) but also my inner. Photo “Night Gym” 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.

THE LAST MOM & POP STORE (photo) & SAYING GOOD-BYE (dreamku series) by Roswila

SAYING GOOD-BYE

hot buttered pop corn,
potato chips, mayonnaise,
tuna casserole,
fancy pastas of all kinds –
favorites she can’t eat now

she sits crying at
the table in the food store –
they’d even tried to
block her from coming in
to make her sad good-byes

ah well, she thinks, bowing
her head, “I’ll drink this cup of tea”
steam and a smile rise


[two tanka and a dreamku on a dream of 8-26-12. More than food – though food issues are definitely part of this dream – I see letting go of lots I used to have or used to be able to do. I.e., getting settled into what is now; even as ephemeral as “what is” may be, like steam that rises and is gone. There’s also a slant reference to being more selective about what I “swallow.” I.e. about what I believe because that’s the way it has been, or what I’m accustomed to believing, or cling to believing; about myself and anyone else, or any situation. Photo “Last of the Mom & Pop Stores” 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.

RED BIRD (photo) & ISN'T RED FOR STOP LIGHTS (dreamku series) by Roswila

ISN’T RED FOR STOP LIGHTS

the beautiful small
dark haired woman’s aghast at
how he looks at her –
not now, not here, sexual
tension just won’t do tonight

but there’s no stopping
him at any time, much less now
when his ego’s bruised –
he drapes her in a bright red
swath of shiny material

like an ersatz
Pygmalion she emerges
from shapelessness as
he recreates her wearing
a vivid hug-curving gown

covering her half-
exposed breasts only makes him
more determined
she gives up and lifts her arms
from her red-sheathed sides

the look in her eyes
that he never fathoms: if you
‘can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em


[four tanka and a dreamku on a dream of 8-25-12. Hm, the previous night I was out to assassinate “him” and last night I’m tired of not being able to resist “him.” Can we spell “ambivalence,” children? By the way, neither dream man was someone I know. Last night’s was even extremely vague. The effect of his actions was more present than he and that gives me a huge clue to what’s being worked on. Photo “Red Bird” 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.