BOXED IN (photo) & WAITING (dream tanka pair) by Roswila

WAITING

what’s more surprising,
flooding me with both ire
and disbelief:
that her “rescuers” had boxed
her for shipment like a turkey

or, that she’s almost
full term hugely pregnant,
waiting on the lawn,
still trussed up and trusting
that someone gives a hoot


[two tanka on a dream of 1-11-13. Oh, yeah I’ve been quietly p.o.’d and feeling sorry for myself for a few days. This was one of the earliest dreams of the night and the most lively. The rest were about calmly – even blandly -- achieving various sorts of balance. Sigh. Progress isn’t always exciting, is it? Photo “Boxed In” 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.

ANSWERING THE CALL (photo) & LESSONS IN DOG WRANGLING (dream tanka trio) by Roswila

LESSONS IN DOG WRANGLING

teenage Hilary’s *
to star in a new T.V. show
it will follow her
on her job taking care of dogs
whose owners are out of town

in the pilot the dogs
are a dark hoard of nearly
identical hounds
Hil wastes no time organizing
them into effective order

viewers are impressed
by her skilled maneuvering,
but the real key’s how
she respects each dog even
as she brooks no nonsense


[three tanka on a dream of 1-9-13. * Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton. I do have occasional dreams about presidents (usually our current one) but this is a first Secretary of State. As I drafted this dreamku in the wee hours of the morning sitting on my bed, it became clear to me why my dreaming mind specifically chose Hilary Clinton. To go into it here would require a rather lengthy meander down the corridors of my psyche. So I’ll simply add that there are times when my emotions and thinking need wrangling as much as any hound in that dark hoard. And that, actually, is the most pointed aspect to this dream. Photo “Answering the Call” 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.

THE SHAPE OF THE RAIN (photo) & A LOAF OF WRY (dream tanka series) by Roswila

A LOAF OF WRY

lots of wry laughter
bubbles through his telling of
a recent memory:
he’d clowned around and been fired
from a job waiting on tables

as he talks we see
his memory like a movie:
he has to wade home
through neck deep flood waters
that reach to the horizon

then, out of nowhere,
a car splashes past him
grinding to a halt
he wrestles faster against
the flood to reach its side door

before he can put
his hand on the handle
the car splashes off –
there’s no free lift through the flood
for this erstwhile easy rider *


[four tanka on a dream of 1-8-13. * I googled to be sure I was using the expression “easy rider” correctly. I found that it’s had many different usages over the decades. It’s used here as it was in the early 1900’s, to mean freeloader. Photo “The Shape of the Rain” 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.

LEAPING LIZARDS! (photo) & WHAT IS THE QUESTION (dreamku series) by Roswila

WHAT IS THE QUESTION

a clown’s tight grimace
flashes for an instant like
a lightning bolt,
or the last frame of an old
colorized movie reel as it snaps

what generated
this disappearing rictus
tremendous pain or
anger beyond imagining
and what does it matter

a menu appears
in the air where the clown’s
face briefly floated,
calligraphed carefully with
a wide range of exotic foods

the question remains: what to buy,
if anything, of all this projecting


[three tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 1-7-13. I hasten to add that I include my own projections (when I manage to out them) in that capping two-liner. Photo “Leaping Lizards!” 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.

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.

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.