INCEPTION (photo art) & I DON'T ... (dream narrative) by Roswila

I DON'T...

he just won't accept that I don't want to resume
a friendship -- but it would require too much time
and effort and I trust my intuition that nothing
much has changed between us, too many re-
connections with others gone awry attest to this
-- is it them -- or me -- or some combination?
I don't care anymore and here he is on the other
end of the phone! I don't want to offend him
but also don't want to be encouraging --
so how do I get off this call gently and swiftly,
I have a life to get on with, I don't need
this distraction from my hard-won and
difficult to maintain focus -- and I really
don't want to have to deal with him being so nice,
so reasonable -- so much so that all I can infer
from the shadows behind his bright voice
are accusations of my selfishness, a refusal
to risk opening my heart again


[narrative on a dream of 11-7-13. I'm still having trouble with what to call my dream pieces like the above that are unpoetic. Calling them poems is clearly problematic, no matter how I try to justify that term. However, they aren't simply transcripts of the dream either. I work assiduously to organize them, to choose just the right words, to decide what to leave in or exclude, etc. I.e., I work exactly as I do with those that wind up more obviously poems. I'm not all that familiar with prose poems, though from what I do know, suspect they don't fit in that category either. So I'm going to give a try at calling them dream narratives. And last, a note on this dream above: It's entire point for me is in those final words "a refusal to risk opening my heart again." All the rest is the dream ego defending against that perceived need. Photo art "Inception" (11-9-13) 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.