DIVING FOR SEED PEARLS (photo) & THE QUESTION (dreamku series) by Roswila

THE QUESTION

highly intelligent,
handsome, and difficult
to get close to,
this man who’s suffered much
in the ways that I have

I mute my joy when
he apparently welcomes
our cuddling on a bench –
I in his lap facing him,
we press heart to heart silently

his band mates arrive
for their gig and we separate
but our connection
remains, warming my breast
and lighting his sad eyes

he turns to watch as I
jump feet first off the boardwalk
into the ocean
totally submerging in
a spontaneous ballet

those pinpoints of joy in his distant eyes …
will they still be there when I surface


[four tanka and a capping two-liner on a dream of 11-5.12. Photo “Diving for Seed Pearls” 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 DISPLAY (photo) & THE ARTIST VIEWS HER WORK (dream tanka trio) by Roswila

THE ARTIST VIEWS HER WORK

two of her huge glass
worms curve horizontally along
the art gallery walls
their colorless clarity
bending the overhead light

only their round eyes
and the aura from their heads
bear any color,
a soft translucent coral
offering a hint of warmth

she views the great length
of each of the worms in turn
surprised at her ease:
every curve is where it should be
she’d change nothing about them at all


[three tanka on a dream of 11-4-12. Laugh – Out – Loud! I’ve had tremendous fun with worm associations while writing this tanka trio, though there are too many of them -- all applicable in some way -- to comment on here. So I’ll simply share my uppermost thoughts. First, I’m really encouraged by that total acceptance at the end. (I’m a rather compulsive editor and reviser; nothing is ever right or enough. Nor can I leave my past alone, let it be what it was. I’m always trying to find some new or better way to understand it.) I also like that “she” has been making art out of worms -- lemonade out of lemons, anyone? Second, is a gentle butt kicking. As I was feeling sorry for myself yesterday I recalled an expression my father used on me when I was a kid. I’d be whining, yes, but sometimes genuinely trying to get his help with the pain and confusion of feeling disliked. He’d respond with our family’s version of a kid’s rhyme: “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I’m gonna go sit in the garbage and eat worms.” I’d laugh but, of course, it was rarely a satisfying or helpful response to have received. However, the laugh I got out of it yesterday freed me from an intense mental mire, allowing me to gain perspective. Last, I look forward to exploring that “soft translucent coral” color a bit more, using Bob Hoss’s color in dreams chart. My gut take right now is that it’s pointing towards something new, possibly that acceptance at the end. Photo “The Display” 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.

SONG OF SORROW (photo) & SINGING LESSON (dreamku series) by Roswila

SINGING LESSON

I deeply regret
the musical collaboration
they play anything
and everything but what
we agreed to and rehearsed

my fear’s sunk me
yet another time – I’d
only said yes to
their joining my act thinking
I wasn’t enough alone

I sold out for a song …
for many songs and wrong ones,
at that -- lesson learned


[two tanka and a dreamku on a dream of 11-3-12. Photo “Song of Sorrow” 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.

LETTING LOOSE (photo) & THIS MUCH IS CLEAR (dream tanka series) by Roswila

THIS MUCH IS CLEAR

at first it's only clear
she’s ashamed to be enraged,
this middle-aged nun

then I note seepage
through her habit from sores,
and her ire makes sense --
she’d never even grieved the rape
much less this disease it gave her

her will to forgive
and understand now shoved aside
by cleansing rage,
hoisting me on the horns
of a delicate dilemma:

offer no comfort
and leave her shame to fester,
or cradle her close
and risk turning off these tears
before they can do their work

I opt to hold her,
gently, as I whisper, yes,
yes, he had no right,
no right at all and you have
every right to this anger

an Irish lull-a-bye
sings in my memory
but for now I leave
it there -- I’ll know when the way
is clear for its heartful soothing


[six tanka on a dream of 11-2-12. Photo “Letting Loose” 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.

LIGHTING THE WAY (photo) & CHILDREN OF WAR (dreamku series) by Roswila

CHILDREN OF WAR

a group of babies
said to be orphaned by war
lies in a green field
several men approach
one by one they choose a baby

each man’s smile outshines
the sun as he uncovers
a hidden birthmark
or tattoo on his infant
proving his parenthood

beyond any doubt
these squirming bright-eyed babes
have found their fathers
baby giggles and soft wails
mix with baritone whispers

the men nod together in the field
like sunflowers bearing precious seed


[three tanka and a capping two-liner on a dream of 11-1-12. There’s a wee bit of day residue in this dream’s war imagery. Some of the pictures I’m seeing of the ravages of Lady Frankenstorm (superstorm Sandy) on my old home tri-state area back East, look like they were taken in a war zone. There’s a lot more at an immediate and personal level, but it’s too much to go into here. Suffice it to say it does have to do with feeling unfathered in some important respects. Photo “Lighting 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 TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

LOOKING BACK (photo) & ON DISTRACTION (dreamku series) by Roswila

ON DISTRACTION

my roommate and I
pack for a visit with
wealthy folk we’ve met
I’m looking forward to staying
in their large seaside home

but do I really
need to bring my desk along
yes, there’s a deadline
soon for artwork I agreed to
but won’t just my art tools suffice?

and, what’s more, did my
roommie even arrange for
a van and helpers
I forgot to check with her and
I know she tends to be scattered

ready or not we must depart dust and haste

is this frantic push
to visit with distant strangers
just more distraction?
I stop in my tracks and
check out where I already am


[three tanka, a monoku, with a capping tanka on a dream of 10-31-12. Photo “Looking Back” 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.