NEITHER BLACK NOR WHITE (photo) & LONG AGO (dreamku series) by Roswila

LONG AGO

inexplicably
the collage I’ve finished bears
black and white photos,
and only black and white,
when my penchant’s for color

the style in which
I’ve cut, arranged, and pasted
all these pictures, though,
proves way too familiar
if neat and somewhat artful

a friend leans in close
warming my shoulder as she
peruses its spread
I point out each curve and shadow
from which my father’s face peers

here he is smiling
looking right at the viewer
and here he avoids
connection staring into space
while here he’s just unaware

“And this one,” she asks,
it’s really your father?
He appears so young…”
yes, that photo’s from long
ago, as is each capture

a snap shot freezing
what changed only seconds later,
trailing the deceit
of memory and falling prey to
this colorless mummification

I’ve heard it said that on first exposure
a native tribe feared photos steal souls


[six tanka and a two-liner on a dream of 5-12-13. It seems odd to dream of my father on Mother’s Day. However, I did wake up singing that Beatle’s song “Your Mother Should Know.” The connection might have been “long ago” as expressed in the title and fifth tanka. One of the lines of the song’s spare, repetitive lyrics is “your mother was born a long, long time ago.” Photo “Neither Black Nor White” 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 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.

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.