FOUND ACE OF CUPS (photo) & A CARING INQUIRY (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

A CARING INQUIRY

Dream One

my roommate invites a very sick
mutual friend to move in with us
"for the duration," sick bed, medical
equipment and all, so we can take
care of her -- and without asking me
what I think of this huge commitment
and massive re-arrangement of our
lives -- it's all too clear she has no
idea what it all requires, but aware-
ness begins to dawn on her as we
push a hospital bed into the already
crowded living room, while I know
way too well how this will go:
the work and caring demanded
even as one does not know if it's
a labor toward recovery, or
a comforted passing


Dream Two

she leaves her two small kids to fend
for themselves at the baseball game --
true, she gave them money for ice
cream cones to their delight and
the older of the two, a pert blond
girl, seems dutiful but the crowds
at these games can get awfully
rowdy -- these two with their now
sticky sweet faces and hands may
not be my responsibility but I think
until their mother returns I'll just
keep my eye on them
instead of the ball


Dream Three

OK, so now the hunt for the best metaphors
for the dreams starts in a dream! the first search
turns up two full cups of water on a high window
ledge silhouetted in the morning light; the second,
one of those cups emptied to water the plants
on a rod iron stand below: two steps forward
and one back even before turning over in sleep!
how many more steps can be fit into this dancing
around before waking to face the day and its work?


[free verse poem on three separate dreams of 12-3-13. On waking I actually began making the changes the dreams pointed me toward and reframing the entire process in light of the "Ace of Cups" (associating to the Tarot card often read to be about love). Photo "Found Ace of Cups" (5-27-11 11021e) 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.