BORDERLANDS (photo) & AND YET (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

AND YET

the newest craze enters from stage left,
a young woman who's motivational
talks offer up a passion with no sharp
edges for hungry minds to cut
themselves upon

as all the while her voluminous
rainbow colored skirts billow around her
softly like the sheltering wings
of a mother hen

she lightly paces the stage promising
no new thoughts, no thoughts at all
to turn traitor and become tyrannical
but only the vague touch of intuition
feeling its way along the unknown
path at any given moment

and yet, and yet to this dreamer's
questioning gaze serpentine thoughts
spiral endlessly, opening
and closing, opening
and closing
at the center of her talk
like a dark heart


[free verse poem on a dream of 9-14-13. This dream is not a condemnation of thinking, but rather points out the danger of becoming lop-sided. In my opinion, the side we ignore or deny in ourselves can become dark or demonic, while the side we acknowledge becomes ineffective. It's not even a matter of finding some mythic static balance between sides, but of being able to move back and forth as needed between different sides. That is, psychological functions, which is what I'm relating to this dream as addressing. There's also something implied in her entering from "stage left," which is the side of the stage to the left of an actor as she views the audience. That means the audience sees her entering from the right side. I associate "left" to left brain which is often seen (very simply put) as the thinking side. And "right" to right brain, usually said to be the intuitive side (also very simply put). This supports the dreamer's contention that there's a lot of thinking going on, no matter the speaker believes herself to be operating solely via intuition and presents herself that way to others. Last, and probably apropos of nothing, this dream became mildly lucid -- knowing one is dreaming as one is dreaming -- by that last section (stanza). I knew at that point that I was observing a dream and began to (yes) think about it in my sleep. Photo "Borderlands" by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.