TAKING A DIVE (photo art) & WHO WILL LOVE THE MERMAID (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

WHO WILL LOVE THE MERMAID

who will love the mermaid
deserted atop high rocks
at the edge of a vastly old sea
the ancient sea whose erratic flicking
barely reaches the fluted fin of her tail

her long fish tail fading in the drying sun
from scintillating curves that once inspired
myths into a matte memory flashing
smaller and smaller fractions of sky
with each weak stirring

no oubliette could isolate her more
than stranding under the oblivious sun
her land legs only and ever
a fractured fairy tale
her deep sea heart evaporating
bit by bit and rising like silent prayers
from the burning exposure of rocks

she clings like a limpet
as she wastes away
on the jagged promontory: yes
who will love the mermaid and
what will she have left to give


[non-dream free verse poem written in October 2011; revised 4-12 & 11-13. Like so many of my poems and photos, there's been something about this effort I've liked but much that I did not. I think this recent revision may have whipped it into the best shape I am able to give it. Of course, then there's the underlying issue I've had trouble with: an unexpressed self-pity. (Oh yes, I still identify strongly with this mermaid at times.) I just don't know if that whiff of self-pity I get from it undermines the poem. Photo art "Taking A Dive" (8-27-11) 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.