WHAT'S THE CONNECTION (photo) & LEGACY: THE COTTAGE AT THE EDGE (dream tanka series) by Roswila

LEGACY: THE COTTAGE AT THE EDGE

the cat's dragged garbage
in from somewhere: a chicken's
skeleton lies
darkly arched in the middle
of my dirty linoleum floor

as I grab the bones
I see that dust and grime lining
the small room's edges
can no longer be ignored:
I snatch at the fuzziness

it comes away from
the baseboards in a long string
that morphs into a
snaking thin black wire rising
from its hole in the wall

I begin stuffing
the wire back in the hole knowing
it's from the basement
but it resists my attempts,
it will not be re-hidden

a crash at the door!
I spring up and fling it open:
waves from the sea
off to the left, surge over
my worn down lintel

just as panic starts
to rise the surge drains off
into a chasm:
a deep nothingness outside
and to the right of the door

so ... the left side of my
cottage sits too close to the sea
and the right side rests
on the uncertain earth
at the edge of a chasm

surely my father
knew of this before he bought
this charming cottage,
or did he let appearances
deceive, and make an impulse buy?


[tanka series on a dream of 5-30-13. One of those jam packed hyperbolic but too true dreams. A further question I have after that last one is "...and how much of this legacy do I want to continue to buy into?" I.e., continue to live out. Photo "What's the Connection" 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....".

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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.