Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm

SEE ALSO: TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT (photos, realistic to abstract)

Monday, January 07, 2013

SECRET DANCE OF THE TREES (photo) & ON LETTING GO (dream tanka series) by Roswila



ON FINDING A PLACE

“no, honey,” she says
pulling her young son back from
the river’s dark edge
“don’t, I have to trust you won’t
walk there when you’re alone”

they continue their
stroll in the late fall woods-
by-the-long-river
they meet up with other young boys,
each beating a different drum

shaman drums, new age
drums, even military drums,
played with budding skill –
her son shyly tapping his new
jury-rigged, oddly shaped one

they all arrive at
wood cabins in a clearing
is her son welcome
in this gathering circle
of boisterous unknown boys

she silences her
worries – it’s time for her,
the only woman,
to leave – her son must find
his own place in the rhythm


[five tanka on a dream of 1-6-13. Photo “Secret Dance of the Trees” by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- 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 understand or interpret 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.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- 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 brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *
‘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 other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

LOOKING AHEAD (photo) & ON BENDING (dreamku series) by Roswila



ON BENDING

my father and I
amble together down
a narrow sidewalk
lush green trees lean so close above
that I must bend forward to progress

Dad offers his arm
to help me keep my balance
we adjust our strides

I whisper against his shoulder: this must be what
happens when nothing dies and everything grows


[a tanka, dreamku, and two-liner on a dream of 1-4-13 (my 69th birthday). Just that my father shows up in a dream is always quite welcome. Especially as I’m still somewhat amazed I’d managed many years ago to heal my relationship to him after his death. But also to have his support in my struggle now with issues of pride and humiliation was quite a birthday gift. Put simply in terms of the dream imagery: pride as in being unbending, and humiliation as in “I could have just died!” By the way, those words after the colon in the last two lines are quoted from the dream. Photo “Looking Ahead” by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- 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 understand or interpret 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.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- 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 brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *
‘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 other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

Saturday, January 05, 2013

WAVE OF THE FUTURE (photo) & "filling the empty..." (non-dream haiku) by Roswila



filling the empty
rocking chair with shadows
New Year's candle


[a non-dream based haiku written on New Year’s Eve of 2007. I knew it was going to be my last in New York City as I was anxiously preparing to move here to California in about five weeks. The rocking chair was one that my last roommate (of seven good years) used to sit in to have long chats with me. During that last New Year’s Eve in New York City my inner vision rocked back and forth, back and forth even more than usual. Photo “Wave of the Future” by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- 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 understand or interpret 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.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- 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 brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *
‘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 other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

Friday, January 04, 2013

THE EYE OF THE STORM (photo) & IT WAS A DARK & STORMY NIGHT (dreamku series) by Roswila



IT WAS A DARK & STORMY NIGHT
(last dream of the evening)

the cavernous main
floor hospital halls echo
with the announcement:
a massive storm’s approaching
no one should leave the premises

and no one seems to
want to go, but why do they
stand by the glass doors?
and why aren’t the chain link
burglar gates being rolled down?

true, the glass might still
break, but large flying objects
would be caught and stopped …
she moves way back from the doors
and stands around a corner

out of the line of possible flying glass
she calls out to others to do the same


[three tanka topped by a two-liner on a dream of 1-2-12. I'm having strong associations to the expressions "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" and "We're all in this together." In any case, this was the last dream of the night; the first of the evening was posted here yesterday. See comments to yesterday’s post -- directly below this one -- for some “analysis.” This dream above is somewhat of an advance on the first one. This is not uncommon for me in a night of dreams. As if something gets worked through. I’ve also noted that dreams from earliest in the night tend to be the most intense and often have the least realistic images. My dreams last night (1-3-13) were filled with friends from my past and a few favorite celebrities. I even did some (accurate) singing of an old movie song. The earliest dream, though, was very anxious. A strange man had a knife and was intent on hurting me. Another man was helpful as I continued to escape the clutches of the man with the knife. Hm, I will explore later what further info there may be for me in this series of more than usually anxious dream scenarios. It is rather odd for me to have one, much less three of them. And I wonder if it has anything to do with today being my 69th birthday. Well, at the very least those dreams gave me the excuse to mention that. :-D Photo “Eye of the Storm” by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- 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 understand or interpret 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.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- 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 brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *
‘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 other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

THE FALL (photo) & HOW'S THIS FOR OPENERS? (dreamku series) by Roswila



HOW’S THIS FOR OPENERS?
(first dream of the night)

after, she can’t re-
call why she went haring off
into the night streets
she knew, though, she’d been all too
aware that it wasn’t safe

but her rage had launched
her so she literally flew
into danger’s face,
spinning in the air, a clear
target as she spewed venom

later she came to,
all her pockets emptied,
her clothes in tatters,
as she winced from the wounds
of several sorts of assaults

when she finally
stands by the rectory window
washed, bandaged and
dressed in donated clothes
she starts to pick at “why”

then it hits like that
proverbial ton of bricks:
why's not the question,
the inquiry should be about
her self-destructive flight

there must be better ways to respond than to fly
off the handle, right into the maw of danger


[five tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 1-2-12. This was the night’s first dream. I’ll post the last dream of the night tomorrow. It’s also hyperbolic, with an air image, and about danger, but from a different perspective. I actually take both dreams as warnings. In my dream vocabulary, air often represents thoughts and it is abundantly true that my thinking gives me more grief than any single “objective” event. It may be that some dangerous thinking is brewing that I’ll need to acknowledge and then let go of. At the same time, the dreams highlight (in their hyperbolic way) my always present background concern that my "Irish temper" may erupt. Photo “The Fall” by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- 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 understand or interpret 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.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- 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 brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *
‘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 other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

LOCK DOWN (photo) & MASKS (dreamku series) by Roswila



MASKS

my co-worker and I
have developed a very
warm relationship
so why’s she wearing that ski-
like dark aqua mask?

and how do I know
not to ask her about it
but just accept that
I’m cut off from the fluid
world of her emotions

worse, I have to fight
the paranoia that says
I did something wrong
and that’s why she’s concealed
as we work side-by-side

I struggle to focus on our task, after all
am I even aware of all my own masks?


[three tanka topped by a two-liner on a dream of 1-1-13. Photo “Lock Down” by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- 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 understand or interpret 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.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- 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 brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *
‘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 other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

JUST HANGIN' ON (photo) & EXEUNT (dreamku series); plus a New Year's haiku, by Roswila



EXEUNT

why do they make such
difficult exit ways
for building basements
this one’s a ramp at least two-
stories high, instead of stairs

not so bad, you say?
well, look at this exit’s angle
how can one walk it
especially when its made
of such mushy material

see, I have to crawl
up clinging precariously
to the springy surface
and what about this gap
with nothing at all to grasp

its darkness threatens
to fold back and engulf me,
to roll me right up
and take me down like a
bone dry tsunami

I brought nothing in and I take nothing out
why do they make it so blamed hard to leave


[four tanka on a dream of 12-31-12. Believe it or not, this is not a negative dream. I also got a chuckle out of my thought that it might be -- at least in small part -- a memory of being born. Photo “Just Hangin’ On” by Roswila. One more thing, there's a tradition historically among haiku afficianado's of writing one at New Year's. Here's mine:

aaah! my soft warm bed
even though these old bones sleep
the New Year will come

Happy New Year!]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, and monoku -- 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 understand or interpret 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.

For more in-depth exploration:

-- 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 brief up-dating post about the three-part "A DREAMKU PRIMER" -- Important Up-date to A DREAMKU PRIMER....".

* * * *
‘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 other blogs: ROSWILA’S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA’S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.