A LOT ON HER MIND (photo art) & SOME THINGS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

SOME THINGS

some things just need to be kept
separate, so why did I help her
set up a mutual watering system
for these two plants and then back
them up to each other in a hanging
macramé pot? well, at least I stop
her when she starts to water
them yet again "Don't you recall
that trip to the store," I say, "We
bought bottled water just for them"
sadly, it's clear one's already wilting
for lack of water and the other
in danger of rot from too much
"Needs for nourishment do vary
greatly among all growing things,"
I add, silently determined to re-
plant this pair, each in a separate
clay pot so that meeting the needs
of one won't over burden
or deny the other


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-25-13. This dream is primarily a metaphor for how I've begun to slip on keeping my food/diet issues and efforts separate from anything else going on for me. (E.g., not letting my emotions -- about anything, even dieting -- determine my choices of action with respect to how I eat.) It's also an exploration in a way of the differing needs and abilities of our conscious and unconscious minds. What may meet the needs of our unconscious mind may very well conflict with those of our conscious mind, and vice versa. Not out of any "intent" to do so by either part of our minds, but by their very natures. This is to my understanding probably the biggest balancing act of all in life, between the conscious and the unconscious. Photo art "A Lot on Her Mind" (5-2-09, 1680ev2), a just edited years-old selfie, by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, dream narratives -- 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 or narrative 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. I now tend to "show" (the dream story) 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 also pretty much applies to my free verse dream poems as well. As to what I have begun calling dream narratives, they are a different animal, probably most akin to prose poems.

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.