HEATING UP (photo) & ALL IN A NIGHT'S PLEASURE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

ALL IN A NIGHT'S PLEASURE

so two nights in a row, what's up with that?
desire's embers? loneliness? visitations?
who'd think lovers would seek me out
at all much less two evenings running
of course hot weather and sexual desire
each make quite reasonable metaphors
for the other -- as I twist about in the dream
(and from the morning evidence, stick
to my hot sheets) I enjoy another night's
choice of metaphor and on waking
think why even delve beyond the body
memory of the pleasure for its hidden
significance -- was it the Buddha
who said to live in the moment?


[free verse poem on a dream of 9-4-13. I mentioned yesterday that I hesitate to post dream poems with scatalogical images. Sexual imagery is another that can give me a little pause. Not about writing and posting, but about how graphic should I be? I always fall on the side of "not very." I just suggest the scene and let the reader fill in the rest. In this case, however, I didn't have to wrestle with how much to say in the slightest. Too much else had already grabbed my conscious interest. I.e., that heat and sexual desire can be seen as metaphors for each other, and the urge for once not to look beyond the actual experience for its "significance." By the way, it's a known phenomenon that being too warm while sleeping can sometimes precipitate sexual dreams. I should also add that just like any other dream image, a sexual one may very well be metaphorical. Not about sex at all, or only tangentially so. Photo "Heating Up" (6-30-11) 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.