MOONLIGHT & MIST (photo) & ON THE WAY (dreamku series) by Roswila

ON THE WAY

the elevator's
going up to the locked level
of the hospital
I get on to catch a ride
to an in-between floor

the prince and princess,
already on the lift,
need the secured rooms --
she's about to give birth
and in some sort of danger

he starts to sob at the thought of leaving her there
she sadly notes this is the first time she's seen him cry

then no more prince but
a bouquet of hothouse roses
huge and scentless --
and then no more princess,
but plucked from a distant beach

and wildly scenting the air, one salt mist rose


[two tanka with a two-liner and a monoku on a dream of 7-20-13. BTW, the scent of salt mist roses that grow on sand dunes is heavenly. They're not very big, and the variety I used to see on Block Island, R.I. had maybe five or six petals. On another subject, in case anyone has noticed, yes, I've begun fudging a bit with the requirements of the forms I use in dreamku. Not so much with line and syllable count in any one stanza, though, as having one stanza complete the other grammatically. As above at the end: the last line of the last tanka (five line stanza) is completed grammatically by the monoku (the one line closing). I began doing this recently on occasion simply because it felt right. As I think on it today it may be that I'm wanting more fluidity between some stanza transitions. The sort of movement that enjambment at a line's end encourages. (Yesterday's dreamku demonstrates that desire to "move things along" in the writing.) I'd actually noticed for a long time that keeping each stanza (form) complete unto itself grammatically can all too often make for a sort of stuttering overall read. This issue may also be an additional input into my more frequent writing of free verse dream poems. Going more with the flow, if you will. And that's not actually a bad approach to take in my life these days as a whole. No joke. I should also acknowledge the clear influence of "The Kate Wait" for Britain's next heir to the throne to be born on this dream's imagery at the start. Photo "Moonlight & Mist" 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.