CRIMP IN THE WORKS (photo art) & THERE'S NO GOING BACK (dream narrative) by Roswila

THERE'S NO GOING BACK

I'm not the only one stuck down in this subway
by the token gates, but not because we don't
know where we want to go or how to get there
but because the tickets we've paid for are wrong
and we can't get exchanges or refunds or even
an explanation from the officious folk pointing
at vague or inaccurate signs on the subway walls --
I feel worse for the tourist couple next to me than
for myself as we all clamber up the subway stairs
onto the street, abandoning the underground path

the city street corner rumbles with the passing
of vehicles, I turn to my father trying to explain
over the hubbub why this street map we're perusing
is wrong -- no matter it's only off by a fraction
of an inch, that fraction translates into blocks
in reality, I crankily comment -- my father smiles
indulgently, repeating that this is how street maps
are designed -- I think random walking would work
as well and be far less frustrating, my father
chooses map decoding and so we separate

I don't walk very far at all and suddenly I'm right
in front of the building I live in! I rush to get
to the haven of my apartment along the wide
sunny hall -- when I reach where my rooms
should be, nothing looks right, but this is where
they are, I mumble, as I enter an open door -- inside
is even less familiar, though nicely accoutered
and filled with tall potted plants, I back out
quickly not wanting to trespass -- but where
are my rooms? I see a hall sign saying "4th floor"
ack! I live on the 3rd so hurry off to find a staircase

but all I see is bank after bank of elevators,
not one door indicating if it's going up or down,
each lit up with endless floor buttons and barred
by crowds of people waiting to get on --
all I want is to go down one flight, and here I am
pinioned, wishing for distance from these milling
anxious folk while I wrestle, more and more
hopelessly, with a slew of unclear choices


[narrative on several dreams of 11-8-13. The subway, streets, and buildings were non-specific, but I was in my long-time former home town of New York City. However, those rooms of mine I was trying to get to felt more like those I live in here in California. (BTW, I actually live on the second floor.) The several dreams in the above narrative appear in the order I recall dreaming them. I've written in only two transitions for the sake of flow, and even those were implicit in what I remember of the dreams. I considered re-writing these as separate narratives or poems but they seem to ask to stay as one, albeit unwieldy, tapestry. One thread of which I've noted is the progression from underground, to street level, to overshooting an above ground goal and being stuck there. Photo "Crimp in the Works" (9-23-13) 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.