WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO (photo) & THIS PLANET (dream tanka series) by Roswila

THIS PLANET

this planet turns out
to be populated by
off-worlders like me --
it's nothing more nor less
than a huge open air bazaar

the evening air's soft
and the light from braziers
and torches welcoming
I wander keeping my purse
shut and my eyes wide open

I won't be any
more manipulated than
I've already been:
the series of actions by others
that herded me here still stings

a friendly merchant
engages my interest
I blurt out my tale
watching his cordial smile bloom
into one of amusement

"everyone of us
tells the same story," he says,
"we've all been deceived
many times over, it's how
we each wound up here"

my cheeks flush as hot
as any of the torches:
I imagine a
cat's cradles of manipulations
tangling this planet in its web

so what's a girl to do
but surrender to each
unfolding moment and
choose carefully what to buy
... if anything at all


[tanka series on a dream of 5-23-13. Photo "What's A Girl To Do?" 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.

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.