THALASSIC (photo) & THE UNIVERSE OF WATER (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE UNIVERSE OF WATER

I can't even swim alone
in the pool enjoying

the long missed limbering up,
the buoyancy surrounding
spirit and painful joints,
the bending over in deep water
to dive into an alternate world
of silent scintillating aqua,

without commentator
after commentator
calling from the tiled edge
of the pool, lobbing opinions
at me as if I were a target

like that erstwhile friend still
damning with faint praise
about the shape of my stroke
while demonstrating how to
stuff one's hair in a bathing cap
as if I can't really do that
properly either

and he, that handsome old haunt,
egging me to dive deeper yet
without a clue himself about
how to swim much less dive,
his odd fear of me as glaring
as the sunlight glancing
off the pool's surface

or that dark rogue male wanting
to control my every stroke,
my every breath, while lecturing
on additional forms of exercise
that I simply must try
if I ever want good health

all these distracting folk urging
me on in their own ways and for
their own reasons,
some truly well-meaning,
others hiding weighted sinkers
in their words, and yet
others anxious to take credit
for what I've done on my own

I've sorely missed and needed
to explore this accommodating
universe of water, so
does it really matter
what these misguided folk
lob at me from the edge,
like a clamorous off-key chorus

what matters is the swimming
and there's always the next deep dive

[free verse poem on a dream of 9-9-13. Photo "Thalassic" by Roswila] P.S. As always, my heart goes back to New York City on this date, recalling the fall of the Twin Towers. I was living in NYC at the time (and had been for over 50 years) so I remember that day and its aftermath all too well. My deep and abiding hope is that those most effected by the attack have found healing in the years since that dark day.

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.