TUMBLING DRY (photo) by Roswila & THE TASK (dream poem series) by Guest Poet Lisa Rigge

The Task
* a dream poem series by guest poet Lisa Rigge *


SISYPHUS

An incessant need to do the laundry
follows me from dream to dream -
a basketful of clothes needing to
be washed and dried and causing
me no end of worries of how I’ll get
the whole thing done before
I am expected to be elsewhere,
somewhere, with others who are ready to go
or have already left, but the laundry
needs to get done first.

This incessant need to do laundry
follows me from dream to dream
with overfilled baskets of dirty
clothes spilling onto the floor
or spilling over the top of the
washing machine - it’s never easy
doing this laundry unless
someone steps in to
regulate the size of the wash
or set up the closet for drying them
which only happens in a blue moon.

A beautiful artist died recently,
younger than I and so accomplished.
I doubt a Renaissance woman
like her would have dreamt of doing laundry.
Her horizons are of spring, summer,
autumn and winter, the full spectrum
of life and the colors of each season.
Perhaps she knew she was going
to die, she knew she had to paint
these infinite horizons for her soul to
cross in sleep and now in death.


* * * *

GETTING CLOSER

Not one, but two side-by-side
white, top-loaded washing machines
with puddles of water on the
floor in front of them and
piles of blue jeans beside me,
unwashed, dirty, and dark.

Outside on the city sidewalk sits
the King of the Washers -
a large, clunky commercial
machine washing and spinning
my clothes. My clothes!
Ah, at last, the laundry
is almost done!


* * * *

THE TASK IS ALMOST DONE

Her washing machine has
a melodious hum
and I have one small towel
to wash and be done
with cleaning the muck
that we threw up
in the car and in the mud.

I’m anxious to seek permission
to use her machine to finish my mission,
but before I can speak its music has stopped
and now it’s too late for me to ask!

I’m ready to laugh
at the impossible task of washing
the laundry load of dreams,
but at least it appears
that the end is near
for the piles of clothes
have disappeared!


[three dream poems on a laundry theme by guest poet Lisa Rigge, the first two written in January 2013 and the third in March of 2013. Lisa is a dream worker, offering classes on dreams and dream collage art in the northern California area. She is also a talented, skilled photographer. Her website: lisarigge.com. (However, please note that the photo at the top of this post is not one of hers.) Lisa’s email address is lbrig@sbcglobal.net. By the way, I too have had many laundry dreams over the years. Some silly, some serious, some utterly dense, leaving me grasping after the import. And it all did come out in the wash. Photo “Tumbling Dry” 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....".

* * * *

‘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.