BOWING TO THE MOMENT (photo) & [untitled] (dream tanka) by Roswila

his stare concerns me
as I climb down from the tree
determination prevails
I retrieve my crumpled words
by the muddy lotus pond


[re-post of a tanka (with an extra long third line) on a dream from November of 2008, with just one word changed today. I've always been concerned that there's an overload of images in this one five line poem, and that the ending may be too wide open even for a dream poem. However, maybe all that will just lead a reader to go over it to put the pieces together in some meaningful way. As I've said here before, poetry -- of any kind -- is not a spectator sport. It requires a reader's participation. And this one has dropped a lot of clues. Hopefully the right kind. By the way, I don't mean to imply I have a full grasp of this dream. One that I'm holding back, hidden behind the brevity and imagery of the tanka. I don't. Even as I sat here and changed that one word, and then typed these comments I was having more thoughts and feelings about it's "meanings" or "messages." The dream's effect on me continued to evolve as I began to consider what photo to post with it. It took longer than usual. Photo "Bowing to the Moment" 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 connections & other blogs: Charter Member of the United Haiku and Tanka Society (UHTS); ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.