THE LIGHT WITHIN (photo art) & THE WISE OVER-VOICE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE WISE OVER-VOICE

the wise over-voice teaches us
about Tarot as we rest at a sunny
crossroads on the long path

a card manifests before one
of us and each time the over-voice
softly intones on its most esoteric
and ancient of meanings

it soon becomes clear that this
teaching actually frees what we
already know but have forgotten,
each of us in turn with a delightful
ripple of recognition

the High Priestess card appears
before me while the over-voice
speaks of Her as the source behind
and beyond all gods and goddesses,
as that from which every-thing
and none-thing flows

I nod happily along as memory
sings down a pale blue light matching
that of Her robes, when an elderly
dark Knight stomps into the crossroads

his power radiates and I imagine
his black armor would burn my fingers
he's been listening to the over-voice's
intoning and does not deign
to take it seriously

just then an apple manifests in front
of his narrow gaze, at its sight
and without a word from the over-
voice he takes it in one gloved hand
and clomps to the side of the road,
stirring up clouds of yellow dust

he pulls his sword as we gasp,
and neatly halves the bright red
apple in one sweeping stroke
instant recognition bursts
the darkness enclosing him

yes! he remembers!
he stares enraptured by the sacred
symbol at the apple's center: seeds
cradled by a five-pointed star

[free verse poem on a dream of 10-9-13. Oy, the comments to this one may wind up as long as the poem. "Over-voice"? A disembodied voice that's vaguely in the air and/or above. I've had this appear in other dreams. Tarot: I've been working much more with Tarot even than is my usual wont. So it's not surprising it would show up in my dreams. Here's one of my favorite High Priestess cards, from The Illuminati Tarot:

(In most browsers, you can just click on this small graphic to see the details in a larger version.) In Tarot lore the waters of Her robe are said to be the source of all the waters (symbolically, e.g., spirit and/or intuition) appearing on other cards in the deck. Although that final image of the pentacle -- a five-pointed star -- is not a card per se, it is one of the suits in the Tarot, Pentacles. (Technically, a pentacle is a star within a circle and without the circle it's called a pentagram.) And if you want to see that "pentacle" just neatly halve an apple and there it will actually be. After my first draft of this poem I went for a walk and began to think about the two different approaches to knowledge and memory the dream addressed. The High Priestess the intuitive more right brain approach, and the Knight the intellectual more left brain approach. Yet both are witness to mystery and brushed by the sacred. They just take different paths. Photo art "The Light Within" (9-11-13) 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.