TEACHING TAI CHI (photo) & STILL A MYSTERY (dream tanka series) by Roswila

STILL A MYSTERY

that mysterious man,
Asian, indeterminate age,
appears in a dream
he’s never been so present
and deeply involved before

it seems he’s taught
me some sort of martial art
I sense his hope
that the diverse subtle lessons
will click fully into place,

encouraging and
permitting me to access the
spiritual plane –
I’m further surprised when I
sense his masked romantic hope

a bit shaken by
all this, I slow way down and
focus on breathing:
what’s really going on here
and what do I want myself?


[four tanka on a dream of 9-7-12. Yes, this dream was briefly lucid (i.e., aware while dreaming that one is dreaming) in the beginning. And I have actually dreamed sporadically over the last couple of decades of a very vague male Asian figure. So “his” clear presence and my awareness of “his” intents and hopes was a puzzling new experience, both in the dream and now. Does it represent progress down the path I’ve been struggling along? Or a blind alley? Or maybe a possible new path? Or something else altogether? The romantic reference specifically may be about old issues with inappropriate male behavior. While at the same time indicating a possible animus connection. Photo “Teaching Tai Chi” 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.

THREE WISHES (photo) & IN THE LAND OF SPIES (dreamku series) by Roswila

IN THE LAND OF SPIES

he’s already naked
she quickly strips, walking by
virtually nude
her white bra and underpants
no more than silken strings

I don’t know which makes
me more uncomfortable:
their immodesty
or my intuitive awareness
that they’re actually spies

all I want is to
snap pictures – I refocus
my gaze on the garden:
a round white paper lantern
hangs shining in the foreground

to the left burgeons
a gathering on a city street
more spies mill about
lining up for a meeting,
many taking note of me

I keep my camera
close to my chest – I don’t want
photos of people
my interest’s only in the edgy
buildings’ lights and shadows

this busy hive of spies – my eyes
aim only to frame an inner vision


[five tanka and a two-liner on a dream of 9-6-12. I see more in this dream/ku, but at a basic level it makes an unflattering contrast between (for lack of better terminology) extroverts and introverts. Can you guess which type I consider myself? :-) Photo “Three Wishes” 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.

SAY WHAT? (photo) & BAFFLING (dream tanka trio) by Roswila

BAFFLING

she’s a dearest friend,
this old woman, and somehow
I know not to speak,
not to correct her as she keeps
driving in the wrong direction

so what if it takes
longer to get back to our homes,
making so many
U-turns and circling, circling
while denying her confusion

she’s a safe driver
and it’s a lovely afternoon --
pride can be one's guest
at any age, baffling its host,
it’s not for me to expose it


[three tanka on a dream of 9-5-12. Photo “Say What?” 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.

BALI HAI WILL CALL YOU (photo by Roswila) & Untitled (dream tanka by Andrea Gradidge)

peaceful faces
drift away in deep water
beyond my reach

even this infant resists
my effort to rescue him


[dream tanka written by Andrea Gradidge (posted with her permission). Andrea and a couple other scifaiku and kireji haiku group members, have been big influences over the years on how I've grown to understand and write "regular" haiku, and therefore on how I write dreamku and dream tanka. I was delighted to see this one above of hers posted to Dreamjin, my now mostly archival Yahoo dreamku group. When I queried her as to whether she considers it a tanka or a dreamku capped by a two-liner, she said it's probably a tanka but that the the pause between parts is heavy (therefore that space which is not usual in a tanka). Photo "Bali Hai Will Call You" 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.

MOURNING CLOAK (photo) & VICTORIANA (dream tanka trio) by Roswila

VICTORIANA

a golden haired girl
from the Victorian Age
enjoys her new friend,
truly her first companion,
an attentive young woman

the girl shares how
she’d gotten by up ‘til now
not with her pa’s aid,
but solely by holding on
to her lost grandma’s words

words that helped her make
something of those midnight things
that stare at her,
shuffling their vague feet and
shaking their misshapen heads


[three tanka on a dream of 9-3-12. Photo “Mourning Cloak” 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.

OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD (photo) & ON THE ROAD AGAIN (dream tanka series) by Roswila

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

the young man’s dark hair
hangs in long limp hanks nearly
obscuring his face
and the anxious rise and fall
of his plaid-shirted chest

he gesticulates
agitatedly – a woman
whispers to me that
he needs special care, a fact
I’ve known for a long time

he himself states for
the second time “I’ll need your help
with this,” as our group’s
campfire shines in his eyes
and on every reflective surface

this escape into
who-knows-where is hard on us all
he copes by ranting,
the group’s two small dogs by falling
asleep before the rest of us

the young man’s disturbed
behavior’s almost comforting
being so familiar –
whatever else we find on the
road, at least I’m OK with him


[five tanka on a dream of 9-2-12. Photo “Off to See the Wizard” 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.

MORNING SHOWER (photo) & ABLUTION (tanka trio) by Roswila)

ABLUTIONS

she proudly shows me
she got him to drop his towel
much closer this time
to the shower than his usual
wont, hallways away

this way we weren’t
treated to his regular flash --
how sad I think ...

his profound need to
come clean, to be intimate,
so unseen by all,
even himself, that it’s become
this compulsive exposure


[three tanka on a dream of 9-1-12. Photo “Morning Shower” 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.