TERNION (photo) & A ROMANCE IN THREE ACTS (dream tanka series) by Roswila

A ROMANCE IN THREE ACTS

Act I

it’s almost as if
I were babysitting Brad
for Angelina
while she’s off with all the kids
shopping and running errands

Brad’s as beautiful
live as on screen and vaguely
flirtatious with me
I enjoy it but know he won’t
follow through nor should he

then I’m star struck again
when Angelina returns
stunning in a new
black and white maternity dress
trailing kids like a mama duck

her jealousy over
Brad pricks my pride, though
it’s almost surreal
he’s so obviously smitten
and deeply committed to her


Act II

to get to their car
we have to climb a steep rise
everyone winds up
crawling, even strangers
headed back to their rides

I’m relieved that for
once I’m not the only one
having this trouble
a strange man hugs me when he
senses this feeling in me

I wait for the big
“Bazinga!” but none’s coming
he’s quite serious
and a mutual attraction
rises surely between us


Act III

Angelina just
won’t let it go and starts
backbiting me
her stage whispers to Brad
stinging me in a hot swarm

though silence now would
surely be golden, I let loose
in a tarnished torrent,
defensive explanations
making my cheeks flush red

their surprise at my
last barrage cools the air:
“And furthermore, if
you absolutely must know, I’m
dating that sweet fool on the hill”**


[ten tanka on a dream of 5-8-13. * “Bazinga!” used like “gotcha” after a joke (I’m revealing my fondness here for the T.V. comedy “The Big Bang Theory” -- one of the main characters uses bazinga). ** A definite reference to the Beatles song “The Fool on the Hill,” as I woke from this dream singing it. And just in case: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are probably best known as movie actors committed (married?) to each other, with a passel of kids. A note on the writing: Someone once asked how I choose the ultimate shape of a dreamku/series. I don't. It evolves as I draft it. However, in the case of those that I break into parts with headings, the dream pretty much demands it (in this case, three acts). That is, there's no clear progression between the dream parts that I can recall. It's almost as if a curtain went down and then came back up on another part of the same dream. Occasionally, I consciously write in a connection to keep the dreamku/series flowing as one piece. But only if it immediately suggests itself to me in the initial drafting. Otherwise, I wind up separating it into distinct sections, as with this dream. Photo “Ternion” 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.