CAST-OFF (photo art) & THE VISITOR (dreamku series) by Roswila

THE VISITOR

another artist
visits our new not even
furnished apartment
at least she's of the ripe age
my roommate and I have reached

no wet-around-the-ears
pup this one, she's mature
and nicely seasoned
her reputation as a
fine artist preceding her

but my unslaked thirst
for a sharing of feelings
and thoughts about art
is frustrated yet again
when she talks about her son

"He put down a full
chocolate floor in my kitchen"
she proudly declares
"It's a military
honor and tradition,"

adding hastily
as if long used to being
doubted: "Real chocolate"
then mumbling "I had it pulled
up, it was messy to clean."

do I care about
her pride that became too sticky
for convenience?
not when I'm left with a craving
for artistic connection,

even as the image of a chocolate floor melts
leaving behind stains of a less healthy hunger


[several tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 9-27-13. Photo "Cast-Off" (1-14-11) 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.

SOLEDAD (photo) & WITHIN (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

WITHIN

she's lonely
in this richly appointed
living room crowded
with people
her black velvet cape only
accentuating her isolation
until she notes everyone's
robed in black
wearing around them
what remains unconscious
within


[very old dream poem, written & dreamed July 1995, & revised today (after several other revisions in the intervening years). I posted this in an untitled and much earlier version as a Hermit card poem to my Tarot Gallery blog many years ago. But the way it was written has always given me fits. I think I've finally gotten it to the point where I can let it stand and not wince too much when I read it. Someone said that a poem (I think he said "art work") is never finished just abandoned. And that would apply here for sure. Photo "Soledad" (9-23-13) 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.

FRACTIOUS (photo art) & A NAUSEATING MIX (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

A NAUSEATING MIX

she simply
will not take my urgent question seriously
she won't
acknowledge we need to be leaving very soon
in order to be on time or we'll lose out entirely
her jokes
wind me up
tighter than an old fashioned alarm clock
springs and broken glass and metal shards
will be shooting dangerously
all over the place if she continues to put me off
and still she hides behind her hallmark humor
I grab and heft a black folding chair
and smash
and smash
and smash it
even as the pieces clatter to the ground
and roll away with a sound like grinding teeth
I'm overwhelmed by a nauseating mix
of relief and
regret

[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-10-13. I had several other dream poems to post before this one. Then it became sort of irrelevant as I had worked out being so p.o.'d at the situation that precipitated the above dream. However, wait long enough and "everything old is new again." I just got really upset about a new situation yesterday. So this rather hyperbolic addressing of over-reaction is once again pertinent. Photo "Fractious" (9-23-13) 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.

FILLING IN THE BLANKS (photo art) & THE LAST RE-RUN (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE LAST RE-RUN

it's not bad enough there's all those re-runs
on T.V. but now the NCIS team's illegally
searching the top floor apartment I've just
vacated in this three family home

their almost comical tip-toeing around
and shushing of each other is topped
only by the huge photo of them they didn't
even notice pasted to the front door,
covered with cartoon-like video graffiti
as if anticipating their snooping

the head of the team then tells me I should
read the description of the top floor's
designation as OK'd for either residence
or work space, to the neighbors gathering
downstairs in the tiny front yard

a know-it-all stranger arrives just as we
reach the narrow sunny yard, expecting
to make this announcement himself
from the messy sheaf of papers
he flaps in his waving fist

neither the team manager nor I want
him to do so as we know he'll go on
forever and worse scare everyone off
with his officiousness, while I can
speak to the issue, short and sweet

before anything's decided I mention we'd
not let the woman who's going to rent
this space know that my younger brother
lives in a small room way at the back
of the floor, and that he has his own
entrance so it's highly unlikely she'll
ever see him, much less that he'll
disturb her business

the man holding the messy batch
of legal papers could not care less,
and still insists on being the one
to inform everyone of what he claims
to be the complications of this rental

I turn my back on his puffed up protestations
and hobble up the three flights of stairs again
for one last look at where I'd lived for 23 years


[free verse poem on a dream of 9-22-13. NCIS stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service and in case you've somehow missed it, is a T.V. show. It's been in endless re-runs out here even as a new season starts this week. The top floor apartment of the three family home in this dream was very much like where I did live in New York City for 23 years before moving here to California in 2008. And, yes, it was a three floor walk-up. I see this dream as the beginning of vacating a certain way of thinking/being. And that younger brother staying behind -- some still immature aspect of myself, or some sense that I'm finally letting go of an aspect, leaving it behind? Photo "Filling in the Blanks" (8-26-13) 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.

SWEPT AWAY (photo art ) & MAKING WAVES (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

MAKING WAVES

the massive airplane carrying
an important CEO crashes
nose first into the bay

my fear it's headed right at us
is wrenchingly refocused when I see
it's underwater trajectory ends
at the crowded runways
of La Guardia Airport

then it hits me: this plane crash
destroyed the rehearsed ending
to our turbulent opera-in-progress
and I jump onto the water-stage
of the large bay to sing a closing
aria I'm not even sure I know

the show's now well and fully over,
the other cast members as surprised
as I that I jumped into the breach
and performed a closing song solo

one fellow cast member, injured
by the rough waters tossed about
by the downed plane, tugs at my heart
he's my lover but I've known
for some time I have to leave him

he and I are bedded down
on the ledge along the left side
of a small silver pontoon plane
bobbing at the edge of the bay

he's to be flown for medical help
and although I won't leave him
in this condition, I will move on soon
enough, though I do still love him

as I once again embrace this sad
inevitability, the fading waves
on the surface of the bay
rock us gently to sleep

[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-18-13. My first association on recalling this dream was to the expression: "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings." I am, shall I say, Rubenesque, and there are lots of issues in my life right now that feel like unending loud and off-key operas. (And that's only partly a joke.) La Guardia Airport is in Queens, New York City. My family home during my teen years was only a couple of blocks from its Marine Air Terminal. Another recent dream/poem also had a New York City location (the Triborough Bridge). The issue of leave taking moves along further in a subsequent night's dream, the poem for which I'll post here soon. However, the necessity of leaving aside, this dream might be boiled down to "toning down the drama." Photo "Swept Away" (9-12-13) 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.

TATTING LESSON (photo art) & KIT AND CABOODLE (dream tanka pair & two-liner) by Roswila

KIT AND CABOODLE

we're too intimate,
I say, as if that explains it
kit and caboodle,
my list of weaker reasons
elegantly word processed

but they all burn up
against the red of his sweater
when he holds me close
no excuses now remain
for my carefully planned escape

it's not him, it's not us, it's me -- I simply
don't want to care, maybe don't even know how


[two tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 9-21-13. Photo "Tatting Lesson" 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.