RIPARIAN TREE (photo) & ON DROWNING (two dreamku series) by Roswila

ON DROWNING
(two dreams from one night)


the night rains silence
as a dark figure sneaks into
the elephant's tent
it quickly ensnares and rapes
the struggling pachyderm

surely someone must
have heard the elephant's thrashing
and wild trumpeting
but no one arrives, not one
fellow circus performer

less loved than some garage sale white elephant
it lies drowning in an unfathomable silence


* * * *

the only birthday
acknowledgment she receives?
a nasty email
but instead of deleting
she begins to edit it

she crops it way back
to a small central image:
she will make something
of this, put it through filter
after filter and re-color it

painful images when mindfully handled
make effective flotation devices


[two dreamku series on two different dreams of 6-9-13. Yeah, pretty intense pair. However, I think these dreams ultimately address how I use my dreamku writing and photos to keep me afloat during dark times, to provide some color and some impetus to move. I've needed these creative efforts a bit more than usual for several days now and am grateful to have them. Photo "Riparian Tree" 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.