NEAR & FAR (photo collage) & ON COUGARS & CAGES (dreamku series) by Roswila

ON COUGARS & CAGES

the cougars escape:
one by one each breaks through
its prison wall --
these cages disguised as homes
cannot contain their wildness

I catch a fleeing
female by her strong hind legs
stopping further flight --
she struggles to get free
but neither bites nor scratches

her new home appears
near us as she writhes in my grip:
quite long and narrow,
it curves at a stretch section
of clear fuchsia plastic

the rest of its walls
ashine with rigid chrome on
artfully designed
purple struts and panels,
nary a doorway in sight

a thought sinks me: no matter how brightly colored,
modern, or flexible a cage remains a cage


[four tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 5-21-13. Photo "Near & Far" by Roswila; an early effort of mine at greeting card design; all photos in it were taken on the grounds of the retirement community in which I live]

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 relate to 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.

Also please note that a dreamku is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. A dreamku is my attempt to get down dream imagery/action that grabs me and, as I write about it, elicits my conscious written association and response. Nor do I believe that one has to remember dreams in order for them to do their work. In my understanding, we are much more than our conscious selves.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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.