LOOKING BOTH WAYS (photo) & ONE WAY OR THE OTHER (dreamku series) by Roswila

ONE WAY OR THE OTHER

the sheet’s gone one way
and my light summer quilt’s
gone the other
an altogether exposing
and annoying arrangement,

like that portentous
dream that suddenly drowned
as I was tossed up
to the bone dry awareness
of this now sleepless night

I think of plate tectonics and schisms, but these
mechanistic symbols don’t hold any water

things have gone sideways one way or the other


[two tanka, a two-liner, and a monoku on a dream of 5-6-13. Photo “Looking Both Ways” 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 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 dreamku is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. A dreamku 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.

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.

ROLLING IN (photo) & GAME'S END (dreamku series) by Roswila

GAME’S END

the supposedly
indestructible new hotel
begins to tumble
the ocean shoreline on which
it rests assaulted by a storm

she believes she can
prevent further collapse
through her own efforts
a strange man grabs her, curbing
her rush across the soggy sands

“Don’t add your own bones
to be dug through along with
that dark carcass’s,
many are grateful this eye sore’s
time has come ‘round so early”

his words hurt, yet
does that mean they’re also true?
no matter, it’s too late
like the end to a game of pick-
up sticks it’s totally demolished

the moaning of the wind – her accepting sigh


[four tanka capped by a monoku on a dream of 5-5-13. Before I go on about this dream/ku let me stress that I do not so much interpret my dream/ku as explore them. But sometimes a dream/ku yells out for understanding. This is one of them. I initially drafted notes to share here but they are way too long and convoluted. So I’ll simply add these points: This dream/ku both offers advice and expresses anxiety about changes. What I find particularly interesting is that it’s a “new” construct (hotel) created (built) in a liminal space (land, sea and sky beneath a storm), and that the man can be seen as a positive animus figure. Photo “Rolling 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 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 dreamku is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. A dreamku 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.

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.

SWEPT AWAY (photo) & LOST IN TIME (dream tanka series) by Roswila

LOST IN TIME

a new group of friends
has let me join them on a
trip to their home town –
we fly over an ocean
in which a dark boat founders

two women in white
work frantically to keep the
motorboat afloat,
stalled and totally swamped
it lurches and rolls about

we must rescue them,
I think, just as we all wind
up in the chest-high
drink, slogging along toward the beach
from which their home town beckons

maybe it’s all the palms
but their town seems lost in time –
where’s my camera?
relieved to find it, I fervently
hope taking photos is permitted


[four tanka on a dream of 5-4-13. Photo “Swept Away” 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 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 dreamku is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. A dreamku 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.

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.

DON'T BURST MY BUBBLE (photo) & ON CRAYONS & QUESTIONS (dreamku series) by Roswila

ON CRAYONS & QUESTIONS

the huge hard back book
falls to the floor, landing with
a clap like thunder
I know this disguised door slam
should wake me but it doesn’t

I’m too astounded
by all the young women
in this small college
women! bah! what a joke
they sound and act like girls

nature’s succeeded
with grown womanly bodies
where nurture’s gone wrong:
little girl voices pipe up
from mature women’s faces

they gambol around
concerned only with crayons
and their next cupcakes ….
what sort of education
produced this contradiction?

and am I being judgmental? do some
big transitions need a buffering bubble?


[four tanka and a two-liner of a dream of 5-3-13. Actually, this is a reassuring dream. I had a very hard day yesterday and was upset with how much I felt inside like a child having a tantrum. Photo “Don’t Burst My Bubble” 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 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 dreamku is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. A dreamku 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.

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.

EYE OF THE CRITIC (photo) & CALLED ON THE CARPET (dreamku series) by Roswila

CALLED ON THE CARPET

we all bed down in
a large carpeted lobby
the lights lower, unlike
our intense worries about finding
out why we were each called here

a young man close by
exposes his worry over
being enumerate
well, he’s charming, and no one
seems to care he can’t do the math

what may not be wise
is my being in bed, so to speak,
with this dark-haired gal
the carpet scratches me as I
put distance between us

news crackles right through
this reluctant gathering:
the big boss is here!
everyone rushes to find
the lecture hall where he’s to talk

but I hang back and look for signs of a ladies’ room
I don’t want a lecture – I know what I need to do


[four tanka topped by a two-liner on a dream of 5-2-13. Photo “Eye of the Critic” 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.

NEURAL CRADLE (photo) & RAVENOUS (dreamku series) by Roswila

RAVENOUS

the stars come out,
in both a literal and
figurative sense –
the huge amphitheatre packed
for the night’s talent contest

performance after
performance quickly wings by
on a dark tension
that crosses the chilled air
like a net of zip-lines

then, with no naming
and no warning, the winners
sing out in chorus
their foreign language under-
standable only to them

as their contingent
cheers them raucously
it becomes quite clear:
they were given first place
to subvert their aggression

but what happens when
the earth spins ‘round once more
and the sun rises
on other countries, how will
they feel out of the spotlight

will words of war leave their mouths again
(a collective ego’s always ravenous)


[five tanka and a capping two-liner on a dream of 5-1-13. Although couched in rather hyperbolic images (influenced by current political events) this dream/ku is mostly personal. About my fear of appeasing certain aspects of myself and whether it would accomplish (has ever accomplished) anything. One clue to its being about my own psyche is that “net of zip-lines.” Even while dreaming I saw the resemblance to pictures I’ve seen of a brain’s neural networks. Photo “Neural Cradle” 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.