Queen of Swords (card in Tarot of the Cat People) & XANTHERA PISTEX (dreamku series) by Roswila

XANTHERA PISTEX

“xanthera pistex…”
the doctor I.D.’s the little
reddish blisters

then she sagely adds
“This is a form they don’t
often appear in,
they’ll completely dry up
exfoliating your palms”

no biggie, I think,
I’m more curious about
that suggestive name:
“pistex” certainly echoes
how p.o.’d I’ve been,

and “xanthera”
strongly echos “panthera”
as in black leopard --
my googling only results in
drug ads and heavy handed cures

these blisters live outside the medical model
I turn down the drugs and continue on my own path


[a dreamku and three tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 4-19-13. The googling I just did on “panthera” was much more productive than the dream googling. Of course, I was seeking the mythology of the black panther, not information on the blisters as I did in the dream. Here’s what I found that really hit me hard, given what I just went through late last night. (I had one of those tremendous “ahHA!” moments late last night that resounded through me, with the potential to tumble a host of constructs in my thinking and feeling worlds.) From Veronica Conway’s site “The Black Paper” -- “The panther always brings guardian energy to those to whom it comes... The panther often signals a time of rebirth after a period of suffering and death on some level. This implies that an old issue may finally begin to be resolved, or even that old longstanding wounds will finally begin to heal, and with the healing will come a reclaiming of power that was lost at the time of wounding... Nietzsche once said, 'that which does not kill us makes us stronger.'" Phew! May it be so, even if only in small part. Image: The Queen of Swords in the Tarot of the Cat People. I just recently put up The Queen of Swords from four other decks on a sheet of black paper to represent a sort of protective psychological container, if you will, for all I’m going through at present. I think my sleeping mind made a connection to the panther on this Queen of Swords even though none of the other four Queens I have up are accompanied by one. I apologize for the small size and poor quality of this graphic I found online. My scanner’s down so I can’t make a better one from my own deck]

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:

-- 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....".

* * * *

‘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.

SHE HAD SO MANY CHILDREN.... (photo) & NO KIDDING (tanka dream series) by Roswila

NO KIDDING
(a novel in two chapters)


Cover Blurb

it’d be a cliché
to say their affair is whirlwind
and it's actually
more like a dust devil anyway
lasting only two hot nights


Chapter One

their first night of sex
convinces them they’re in love
even though he’ll leave
after one more evening
and they’ll never meet again

they agree that kids
would be the perfect outcome
they also agree
he’ll be the one to raise them
should their last night produce any


Chapter Two

they digitally
photograph her possible
impregnation,
her fallopian tubes like
succulents about to bud

she quietly slips
the photo chips into holders
and gives them to him,
sadly aware of the cruel
edge to his love making this time


Denouement

you need not wake me
when you go, she murmurs
and turning her back
she thinks: fertilized or not
you’ll get no kids from me


[six tanka on a dream of 4-17-13. As I’ve noted here before, sex in dreams can be like any other dream image: frequently a metaphor. In the case of this dream the “love making” image does contain a wee bit of memory but is largely representing several other issues. Personal creativity and interpersonal relationships (non-sexual) are two of them. Photo “She Had So Many Children….” 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:

-- 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....".

* * * *

‘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.

EJECTA (photo) & ISLAND LIVING (dreamku series) by Roswila

ISLAND LIVING

so, after hiking
to find the black cable’s source,
this is where it starts:
no peak on which to plant a flag
but a small depression

the cable snakes out
from its center: a very
small volcano’s mouth,
lava cooled all around and
beginning to build an island

new land over which
the sea now roams at high tide –
would yanking on the
cable be like pulling
on a bathtub plug?

its much more likely
it would simply stir up this
resting volcano
and the pyrotechnics of
land building would start again

and who needs another lonely island
from which to yearn for Bali Hai


[four tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 4-16-13. Bali Hai lyrics. Although not directly referenced in the dream, this song perfectly expresses the dream’s feeling tone at the end. It’s a lot to explain here, but briefly put this is not a negative dream. Yes, it’s clearly expressing anxiety, but it also notes new ground on which to stand. And I find this interesting in light of my tendency to water/flood dreams. Photo “Ejecta” 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:

-- 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....".

* * * *

‘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.

WAITING FOR OPHELIA (photo) & ON FAKING IT (dreamku series) by Roswila

ON FAKING IT

a trio of play
rehearsals fills the schedule:
the venerable
and serious Hamlet’s first,
then a hippie musical

the third and current
play being cast and run through in
the dance studio:
another musical,
this one about the jazz age

she’s been cast as a
torch singer and feels she’ll do fine
in the challenging role –
a young man auditions next and
asks her to read a scene with him

she approaches him
from the back of the studio
in a sexy sidle:
just trying on her character,
she thinks, to support his effort,

she may be playing heavily against type
but there are times anyone needs to fake it


[four tanka and a two-liner on a dream of 4-13-13. Photo “Waiting for Ophelia” by Roswila. And last, but first in my thoughts, my heart is with everyone effected by the Boston Marathon explosions.]

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:

-- 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....".

* * * *

‘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.

TUMBLING DRY (photo) by Roswila & THE TASK (dream poem series) by Guest Poet Lisa Rigge

The Task
* a dream poem series by guest poet Lisa Rigge *


SISYPHUS

An incessant need to do the laundry
follows me from dream to dream -
a basketful of clothes needing to
be washed and dried and causing
me no end of worries of how I’ll get
the whole thing done before
I am expected to be elsewhere,
somewhere, with others who are ready to go
or have already left, but the laundry
needs to get done first.

This incessant need to do laundry
follows me from dream to dream
with overfilled baskets of dirty
clothes spilling onto the floor
or spilling over the top of the
washing machine - it’s never easy
doing this laundry unless
someone steps in to
regulate the size of the wash
or set up the closet for drying them
which only happens in a blue moon.

A beautiful artist died recently,
younger than I and so accomplished.
I doubt a Renaissance woman
like her would have dreamt of doing laundry.
Her horizons are of spring, summer,
autumn and winter, the full spectrum
of life and the colors of each season.
Perhaps she knew she was going
to die, she knew she had to paint
these infinite horizons for her soul to
cross in sleep and now in death.


* * * *

GETTING CLOSER

Not one, but two side-by-side
white, top-loaded washing machines
with puddles of water on the
floor in front of them and
piles of blue jeans beside me,
unwashed, dirty, and dark.

Outside on the city sidewalk sits
the King of the Washers -
a large, clunky commercial
machine washing and spinning
my clothes. My clothes!
Ah, at last, the laundry
is almost done!


* * * *

THE TASK IS ALMOST DONE

Her washing machine has
a melodious hum
and I have one small towel
to wash and be done
with cleaning the muck
that we threw up
in the car and in the mud.

I’m anxious to seek permission
to use her machine to finish my mission,
but before I can speak its music has stopped
and now it’s too late for me to ask!

I’m ready to laugh
at the impossible task of washing
the laundry load of dreams,
but at least it appears
that the end is near
for the piles of clothes
have disappeared!


[three dream poems on a laundry theme by guest poet Lisa Rigge, the first two written in January 2013 and the third in March of 2013. Lisa is a dream worker, offering classes on dreams and dream collage art in the northern California area. She is also a talented, skilled photographer. Her website: lisarigge.com. (However, please note that the photo at the top of this post is not one of hers.) Lisa’s email address is lbrig@sbcglobal.net. By the way, I too have had many laundry dreams over the years. Some silly, some serious, some utterly dense, leaving me grasping after the import. And it all did come out in the wash. Photo “Tumbling Dry” 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:

-- 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....".

* * * *

‘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.