EYE ON SUMMER (photo) & THE HOOK-UP (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE HOOK-UP

my younger woman friend decides
we should have a one time threesome
with our handsome male friend
even though we're all in other
committed relationships

after all, everyone's doing it these days,
no, not threesomes necessarily
but affairs, she says, people choose
to have one as casually as a sugary
desert when on a diet, and we'll only
hook-up this one time

we go to a hole-in-the wall motel
and when our assignation's over
it's clear that it will be hard
for the two of them not to see
each other again, though I am
and have been nearly
invisible during this long night,
more an awkward observer
than participant

as she drives us back home across
the Triborough Bridge she begins
building denial of the connection
with him, establishing a maternal
stance by expressing concern
over his exhaustion and how is
that troubled right eye of his?

from the backseat where he's been
nodding out he mirrors her denial
of their compelling entanglement,
blinking his sleepy blue eyes

but the presence of their passionate
connection remains as obvious
as I am crowding the front passenger
seat, and as unacknowledged


[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-19-13. This actually has very little to do with sexual affairs and much more to do with being faithful to myself. Not cheating, say, on my diet, but more that that on any of the commitments to change I've been making. And I like that the "I" of this dream is rather outside of it all. As if I'm more able to observe certain aspects of myself try to start up their trouble, as opposed to getting swept up in their behaviors and denying it all. Of course, I'm only at the very beginning of these changes and there are bound to be stumbles -- big and small -- along the way. I only hope I can observe those, as well, rather than identifying with them. BTW, The Triborough Bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx in New York city where I lived until going on six years ago. Not only does it's name repeat the three-way theme, but I like that it's a place in my past. Photo "Eye on Summer" 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.