APPROACH AT YOUR OWN RISK (photo art) & THE ANCIENT HUNT (dream tanka series) by Roswila

THE ANCIENT HUNT

the white haired vampire's
effect on me confirms
his reputation:
incredibly magnetic
even for a blood sucker

yet when I come on
to him once he gets me alone
he puts me right off
well, at least I waste no time
or energy feeling hurt

nor do I puzzle
over what I did wrong, it's all
risky business
anyway, this ancient hunt
for satisfying connection

the first thing I see
as I leave him in the dark
restaurant back room:
rambunctious teenagers
waiting to order breakfast

no, I'm not your server,
I think, and slip out a small
side door noting how,
in one fashion or another,
we're all seeking to be nourished


[tanka series on a dream of 9-20-13. Photo art "Approach at Your Own Risk" (8-30-09) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.

EYE ON SUMMER (photo) & THE HOOK-UP (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE HOOK-UP

my younger woman friend decides
we should have a one time threesome
with our handsome male friend
even though we're all in other
committed relationships

after all, everyone's doing it these days,
no, not threesomes necessarily
but affairs, she says, people choose
to have one as casually as a sugary
desert when on a diet, and we'll only
hook-up this one time

we go to a hole-in-the wall motel
and when our assignation's over
it's clear that it will be hard
for the two of them not to see
each other again, though I am
and have been nearly
invisible during this long night,
more an awkward observer
than participant

as she drives us back home across
the Triborough Bridge she begins
building denial of the connection
with him, establishing a maternal
stance by expressing concern
over his exhaustion and how is
that troubled right eye of his?

from the backseat where he's been
nodding out he mirrors her denial
of their compelling entanglement,
blinking his sleepy blue eyes

but the presence of their passionate
connection remains as obvious
as I am crowding the front passenger
seat, and as unacknowledged


[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-19-13. This actually has very little to do with sexual affairs and much more to do with being faithful to myself. Not cheating, say, on my diet, but more that that on any of the commitments to change I've been making. And I like that the "I" of this dream is rather outside of it all. As if I'm more able to observe certain aspects of myself try to start up their trouble, as opposed to getting swept up in their behaviors and denying it all. Of course, I'm only at the very beginning of these changes and there are bound to be stumbles -- big and small -- along the way. I only hope I can observe those, as well, rather than identifying with them. BTW, The Triborough Bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx in New York city where I lived until going on six years ago. Not only does it's name repeat the three-way theme, but I like that it's a place in my past. Photo "Eye on Summer" by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.

THE DROWNED MAN (photo art) & WHERE'S PAUL (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

WHERE'S PAUL

where's Paul, I think
in a bit of a panic
after all he's been quite ill
and not walking very well
not to mention he was
just next to me on this
narrow concrete sidewalk
lined on each side with
a sea of tall and wildly
askew weeds

I turn around to ask his
black border collie where
he is, "Connor," I say,
"where's Paul!" knowing
this is an exceptional dog
who not only understands
human words but has been
known to speak them

but only silence
greets me as he bows
his shiny head for a pat
and lightly thumps
his long feathery tail

I spin back around
to search the tall weeds
gesturing madly against
the skyline in the distance
as if in a semaphor I now
deeply regret I never learned


[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-18-13. Interesting, this is the second name of an apostle of Jesus I've dreamt of in recent days. I can, at least in part, trace that to reading Jung's "Red Book" in which he references the bible regularly. It's also interesting (at least to me) to note that the name Paul means "small or humble." The name Connor is heavily influenced by an infant on a soap opera (I keep the T.V. on in the background as I work at my computer -- who's a multi-tasker!). His true paternity was outed only when he was found to have a genetic disease that could blind him. Then when I googled "Connor" I found it can mean "wise 'Hound-lover.'" I love these synchronicities. Anyway, I haven't really gotten deep beneath the skin of this dream yet, though I look forward to doing so later. I do note after drafting this poem that language or communication difficulty runs through it. Hm, and that leads me to wonder how can one find/retrieve something without the language or symbols to express it? And that's an issue I find myself up against all the time in writing poetry and editing my photos. I'm after something but just can't find the way to it, much less express it. When I do, the results are always both satisfying and a disappointment. Photo "The Drowned Man" (10-24-10) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.

A LIGHT TOUCH (photo art) & AGAIN (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

AGAIN

low mountains lie beneath
a powder blue comforter as if
for a nap in the cool afternoon
each blink of her old eyes
landing her closer to sleep

and again the veils of her lids
lift from the distant mountains
and again a peacefulness rises
like a long forgotten dream


[free verse poem, not dream-based, written in September 2013. Photo "A Light Touch" by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.

BRUSHING THE SKY (photo art) & [untitled] (non-dream haiku) by Roswila

palm fronds combed
by invisible fingers
the unmoving blue


[non-dream haiku written 5-27-13. Photo-based computer art "Brushing the Sky" by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.

BORDERLANDS (photo) & AND YET (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

AND YET

the newest craze enters from stage left,
a young woman who's motivational
talks offer up a passion with no sharp
edges for hungry minds to cut
themselves upon

as all the while her voluminous
rainbow colored skirts billow around her
softly like the sheltering wings
of a mother hen

she lightly paces the stage promising
no new thoughts, no thoughts at all
to turn traitor and become tyrannical
but only the vague touch of intuition
feeling its way along the unknown
path at any given moment

and yet, and yet to this dreamer's
questioning gaze serpentine thoughts
spiral endlessly, opening
and closing, opening
and closing
at the center of her talk
like a dark heart


[free verse poem on a dream of 9-14-13. This dream is not a condemnation of thinking, but rather points out the danger of becoming lop-sided. In my opinion, the side we ignore or deny in ourselves can become dark or demonic, while the side we acknowledge becomes ineffective. It's not even a matter of finding some mythic static balance between sides, but of being able to move back and forth as needed between different sides. That is, psychological functions, which is what I'm relating to this dream as addressing. There's also something implied in her entering from "stage left," which is the side of the stage to the left of an actor as she views the audience. That means the audience sees her entering from the right side. I associate "left" to left brain which is often seen (very simply put) as the thinking side. And "right" to right brain, usually said to be the intuitive side (also very simply put). This supports the dreamer's contention that there's a lot of thinking going on, no matter the speaker believes herself to be operating solely via intuition and presents herself that way to others. Last, and probably apropos of nothing, this dream became mildly lucid -- knowing one is dreaming as one is dreaming -- by that last section (stanza). I knew at that point that I was observing a dream and began to (yes) think about it in my sleep. Photo "Borderlands" by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.

FALL CANVASS (photo) & WILD HUNT (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

WILD HUNT

my new woman friend's
long hair and heavily tattooed
upper left arm drew me to her
to begin with -- the first a comfort,
the second teasing at images
of a crime novel heroine --
a magnetic mix

but too soon she ignores me
as if we'd never met, never
connected over the designs
that swirl on her arm -- dragons,
fairies, the occasional bloody
sword -- or discussed new hair
styles for each of us

she strides right by staring
at something ahead I cannot see
her long dark hair whipping
in a sudden autumn wind
as the turbulent figures on her arm
careen like a mythic Wild Hunt

[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-11-13. See re: Wild Hunt. I hope this is predicting that the often wild ride I'm taken on by the waxing gibbous moon phase will pass me by this time. There's a full moon due on the 19th and I have been almost holding my breath. (Things get better, BTW, once the full moon's here.) Photo "Fall Canvass" (9-12-13) by Roswila; to see the "texture" in this photo click on it.]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS): The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, etc. -- 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 dream poem is not intended as an interpretation of a dream, or even a complete and accurate rendering of one. It 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 (the specific forms of dreamku, tanka, two-liners and monoku) you may do here, that in the beginning I stressed "showing, not telling." However, this 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). This pretty much applies to free verse dream poems as well.

For more in-depth exploration of the dreamku forms specifically (and one post in which I also address my photo choices):

-- 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.