MOONRISE (photo) & THE OLDEST GUNSLINGERS' CONVENTION (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE OLDEST GUNSLINGERS' CONVENTION

The first ever Oldest Gunslingers' Convention
begins to shape up in a small rustic western-
style section of the city, a much ballyhooed
gathering for aging actors who starred as gun-
fighters in movies in years long past.

I stand in the doorway of a replica old-time
saloon that's really an alcohol free restaurant
and watch the first gunslinger/actors arrive
in greater numbers than anticipated.

They're each dressed according to a role they'd
once been famous for and quietly chat among
themselves, many as familiar to me as old friends
and most still quite pleasing to my old lady's eye.

Then a second wave of attendees arrives, all
sauntering casually down the middle of the dusty
street, cowboy boots and spurs tossing up clouds
as they amble, these men even older but no less
lively than the first group of 'slingers.

And I personally know two of these second-wave
actors. One blonde, sun-wrinkled, and the oldest
yet to arrive says "Just wait 'til you see how many
more of us are coming down that road a piece."

The thick British accent of the other dark-haired
gunslinger's as charming as I remember, but I
don't call upon either of these long ago connections
worried I'll be seen as a celebrity hunter.

The night settles in as does the crowd of actors
networking with each other and casting directors
in the saloon, and giving autographs. I suddenly
crave air and space and head out for a walk down
the distant city sidewalks.

Here I relax, alone under a rising full moon, with
the tall building silhouettes affording only a slim
glance back at the replica western town. I pull
the long green sleeves of my sweater down over
my forearms against the evening cool. Aging actors
wearing their old roles fondly and ever so well may
draw one in but too soon make for an uneasy fit.


[free verse poem on a dream of 8-15-13. Not surprised to see a full moon in a dream; it's full here on the 20th, just a few days away. Which, of course, explains why I've had to file back these fangs. Though I must say I've done better so far than usual with my Pre-Moon Syndrome. Maybe distancing myself from my gunfighter mode by relating to it as something out of the past and only as relevant as I let it be, is helpful, too. However, I don't want to reduce this dream to a suggestion of how to deal with my Pre-Moon Syndrome. It's far more than that and too much to go into here. Photo "Moonrise" 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.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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 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.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND (photo) & AT OCEAN'S EDGE (concrete dream poem) by Roswila

AT OCEAN'S EDGE

the adolescent girl says
that we'd made a ring on my
previous visit here while she talks
it appears on my right hand manifesting
layer by layer it's cut from paper that's shot
through with iridescent colors lovely by any
standards but rather more fragile than one might
wish this slim blonde soon-to-be woman seems very
sweet and gullible wanting only to reconnect with me
sadly I don't remember her or the ring but there's
something familiar in them both then I recall I'd
volunteered with a Girl Scout troupe that
summer not her camp group another
ring created with the scouts
suddenly appears
on my left hand sturdier
but similar in its coloring when
the girl her counselor and friends realize
I'd been with the Girl Scouts they're obscurely
scandalized and turn away their ring on my right
hand disappears as if it had never been and I can no
longer find the sturdy ring that so briefly graced
my left now how do I spend the rest of this
time at ocean's edge when I'm not feeling
even vaguely welcome watch the
endless Academy Awards
from the beach lost
among the mesmerized and
adoring crowd I don't think so
I came to this place just for the ocean
I suppose I'll have to tolerate the hordes of
celebrity fans as I wend my way through
and around them until I find a quiet
perch at the edge of the endless
sea past the fickle reach
of any ring


[free verse dream poem on a dream of 8-14-13. What can I say? I got caught up in the various rings and repetitions I saw in this dream. When a poem's shape echoes its content it's called concrete poetry. Which I find a little amusing given this "concrete" poem is about an ephemeral dream. (If the triple round shape of this poem has scattered uneven line fragments disrupting it, try viewing it with text size medium or small.) Photo "What Goes Around Comes Around" 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.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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 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.

HEALING CRISIS (photo) & TO HEAL A DICTATOR'S HEART (four dream tanka) by Roswila

TO HEAL A DICTATOR'S HEART

he warns me none will
stand for it -- when he helped once
others tried to sink
his billion dollar business
and his personal life

I'm vaguely concerned
about this risk, not so much
the half million bucks
investment in trying to fix
the dictator's black heart,

I have far more where
that money's stashed, but I do
hesitate briefly
at the thought of crossing
the rest of the world's beliefs

however, I click on
the realistic black heart icon's
DONATE NOW button
if anything's ever to change
something new must be done


[four tanka on a dream of 8-14-13. Photo "Healing Crisis" 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.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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 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.

RETURN OF THE LIGHT (photo) & FREE TO BE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

FREE TO BE

a Puritan era mother and her two
daughters hang in a church pillory,
the pews crowded with these roughly
hewn wooden devices in which folk
from all ages of humankind suffer
for their term of public punishment

the mother's brown hand-woven robes
flap wildly when she starts to hit
at the restraining arms of the pillory
holding up both her children
and herself for vilification

with a piercing crack the large
wooden cross bar breaks and with
a tremendous clatter the other two
struts give way without a touch

she's freed her little family
and turns to helping each of them
step out of the dark rubble
piled over her bare feet

they all look around fearful of
recapture but the church is oddly
empty, a silent wind rising and falling
like a breath as relief slowly fills
the vaulted space with light


[free verse poem on a dream of 8-12-13. This is one of those endlessly layered dreams. And, yes, that first stanza is a mouthful. I just didn't have the patience to work any more on it. I have no illusions about producing or even trying to produce great poetry here anyway. (Though I do work at my writing quite assiduously.) And there are those who would say this is not even a poem. But that's another issue altogether. I'll only comment that the dream itself is the "poetic" metaphor. And I'll end these somewhat cranky notes by saying that one of the aspects I'm most touched by in this dream/poem is how even the church is freed at the end. It becomes a space of light again, not punishment. May It Be So. Photo "Return of the Light" 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.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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 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.

BLUEPRINT (photo) & BLUES (free verse poem) by Roswila

BLUES

I'm so sorry, Old Man,
I missed hearing you sing your
last song for sunrise

while your breath spun out
to a silvery thread, awaiting only
the final grace of Atropos' shears,

a dream bowed me to the task
of reclaiming ocean worn stones
in every shade of blue

(sadly, not one of them
matches your eyes)


[free verse poem written 8-12-13, taking off from the dreamku of 8-1-13 called "Song for Sunrise." (Just in case, here's info on Atropos.) Photo "Blueprint" by Roswila. Blogger offers only three sizes for sharing photos: small, medium, large. I choose the one best balancing the size, shape, and length of the dreamku/poem it's to accompany. Once in while, as above, I cannot get the right size in relationship to the dreamku, that also shows the details of the photo. This is one of those times. I've had to leave the photo larger than I would prefer because it's details get lost in a smaller one.]

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.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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 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.

SIMPATICO (photo) & IN THE HOSPITAL COMPLEX (dreamku series) by Roswila

IN THE HOSPITAL COMPLEX

no, no, this won't do!
they won't let her have her babe
the one they sweetly
deny she even gave birth to
in this huge hospital complex

she sneaks out of her
room to reclaim her baby
from where they've stashed her
she'll wander these sterile halls,
a limping haunt, if need be

before going one
step further, there's her infant
smiling right at her
on the floor next to the wall
clearly waiting for mama

joy leaps between them
but just as she touches her babe
a nurse snatches her
and takes her quickly away
down the white corridor

it might as well be down some rabbit hole,
she thinks, that miracle won't happen twice

lying later in her
hospital bed she hears tiny
noises outside her door
what now, she grumbles, and gets
up to see what's happening

and there's her baby!
lying on the shiny lintel
her brilliant dark eyes
wide open and locking
right onto her blue ones

she quickly embraces
her little girl, awe rising
along with bright joy
there's no taking her away
from me this time, she mutters

not this miracle child whose found her way
back to me twice -- our bond can't be broken


[tanka series with two two-liners on a dream of 8-12-13. Photo "Simpatico" 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.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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 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.

BOWING TO THE MOMENT (photo) & [untitled] (dream tanka) by Roswila

his stare concerns me
as I climb down from the tree
determination prevails
I retrieve my crumpled words
by the muddy lotus pond


[re-post of a tanka (with an extra long third line) on a dream from November of 2008, with just one word changed today. I've always been concerned that there's an overload of images in this one five line poem, and that the ending may be too wide open even for a dream poem. However, maybe all that will just lead a reader to go over it to put the pieces together in some meaningful way. As I've said here before, poetry -- of any kind -- is not a spectator sport. It requires a reader's participation. And this one has dropped a lot of clues. Hopefully the right kind. By the way, I don't mean to imply I have a full grasp of this dream. One that I'm holding back, hidden behind the brevity and imagery of the tanka. I don't. Even as I sat here and changed that one word, and then typed these comments I was having more thoughts and feelings about it's "meanings" or "messages." The dream's effect on me continued to evolve as I began to consider what photo to post with it. It took longer than usual. Photo "Bowing to the Moment" 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.

You may also note in any further reading on dreamku you may do, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, that has been changing for some time now. I now tend to "show" (the dream narrative) and cap if off with a "tell" (some reaction and/or insight I've had to the dream as I was writing about it).

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 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.