EDGY (photo) & IMPRESSIONS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

IMPRESSIONS

all these dreams of the past!
so many they blur together
as if seen through a window
bearing the slapping fingers
of a windy winter rain storm

nothing distinct, just the lack
of clarity time brings -- some
might say, a softening of the edges,
like the dappling in an impressionistic
painting on a shadowy river bank --
but I would say just more checkered
and vague reminders of losses
and failures, and little (and not
so little) meannesses, both others'
and mine to own

not so different really from now,
is it, after all? so much shuffling
and re-shuffling of cards hoping for
a better hand, or scrabbling around
trying to make the colors balance,
all packed into one fleeting window
of time: this night of dreams,
this minute at the keyboard
this moment of choice framed
by what was and will be

while compassion for this mistaken
if painterly picnic arises,
as difficult to grasp as a shadow
dancing at the edge
of an unknown universe


[free verse poem referencing an entire night of dreams, 12-2-13. As I've said here before I really like the impressionistic period in painting so it's not surprising that simile would have occurred to me as I drafted this poem. In particular I kept seeing Seurat's pointillist painting, "...La Grande Jatte" in my mind as I wrote. And I can trace just why, though it's too much to go into here. It's also outside the scope of this dream poem, if not my understanding of the night's dreams themselves as a whole. Photo "Edgy" (3-29-09 1580ev2) 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.