STIRRING THE POT (photo) & POTBOILER (old dream tanka) by Roswila

POTBOILER

why's she in this dream
and do I even care anymore?
like a potboiler
the dream ends abruptly
leaving nothing to grasp


[a tanka on a dream of 11-26-11. Although this is an old, previously unposted dream tanka, its mood fits the dreaming I did last night. Usually I can find even the slightest thread of a growing edge to a dream. Then follow that thread. But I clearly didn’t with this old dream/ku and have not been able to do so with last night’s vague dreams. Unfortunately, this dream/ku also fits too much of the waking thinking I’ve been doing for some time now. The only answer I can come up with to the question this dream tanka, last night’s dreams, and my present life pose is to quote Jung’s question: Who am I that this should happen to me? Put another way, keep the focus on the self. Yes, clearly (or rather, not so clearly) a lot of projecting is going on. I’m also struck now by the underlying meaning of the term “potboiler” – to boil the pot, i.e. to provide one’s livelihood. No insight leaps out at me but I think it’s worth contemplating a bit later when I have time. Photo “Stirring the Pot” 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:

-- very brief comparison of dreamku and haiku: DREAMKU ARE NOT HAIKU

-- 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 short up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

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‘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.