NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP (photo) & ON SHIPS & BONDS (dreamku series) by Roswila

ON SHIPS & BONDS

our roommate agreement
includes sharing the care
of her baby son --
a bright happy month's old child
this should be no chore at all

I draw the day shift
while she goes to her job
but I soon find out
she's neither fed, nor diapered
him, nor set up his play pen

I clean him right up
and find he's easily pleased,
exploring his hands
and feet, or watching me
from the distance I claim

when my shift's over
I leave him fed and clean
and we go to sleep --
when I wake for my next shift
there he is, dressed and watching

my roommate's done her
share this time and I'm grateful:
"Less for me to do
before I dive into my own thing"
I mutter, then haul up short:

she and I, like those
proverbial ships in the night,
no longer connect --
and how will her son and I
ever form a bond this way:

will we each bear a hole in our heart
where the other might have lived


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 6-16-13. Photo "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" 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.