BURNING QUESTION (photo art) & WHY IS A CROOKED LETTER (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

WHY IS A CROOKED LETTER

why, oh why, oh why-o
do I keep dreaming about
my years of gainful employment?
I'm well rid of those low
paying, high-demanding,
at best socially oblivious
and at worst cruel situations

even in this dream I know
there's no way I'm going to accept
that position even though as soon
as they read me the job description
it goes right out of my mind
(which is just where I'm sure a job
such as that would have driven me,
out of what little mind I had left)

so why am I so delighted to tell
my friend I've now been offered
a less demanding but still low-
paying job with a former boss,
one of the most (to be kind, even
though she wasn't) oblivious
I'd ever had?

what is there in the human spirit
that wants, maybe even needs,
to feel useful to others?
even for little pay or worse
at a high cost to one's own health
and well-being?

or am I only paying off old debts,
looking to make up for my own
short-comings and failures, still
trying to work out (pun intended)
why I was complicit


[free verse poem on a dream of 10-4-13. Photo "Burning Question" (9-7-11) 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.

RETURN TO THE SEA (photo art) & MODERN ETUDE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

MODERN ETUDE

she's been told she should show
her feelings as she plays the piano
it's not been her wont before,
her face and posture like the unstirred
surface of a lake as she would let
the music speak for itself

but her desire to please rises above
this natural inclination as she debuts
a lively modern etude, her face and limbs
as animated as a three-ring circus,
pride at this new performance skill
radiating with each key stroke

I look down irritated, I much prefer
to have my own reactions
to a piece, and in my own time,
though sympathy stirs for this young
pianist who's just trying to learn
about the craft of performance

but what's wrong with the piano?
is one key badly out of tune?
one note sounds more like a player
piano, sharp and hollow,
and trills far more than fits
the overall timbre of the music

this may be a modern etude
but it's almost painful to listen to,
yet I hang in and stare at a swirling
knothole in a floor board,
releasing the habit of critique
to tumble awkwardly along
through uncharted musical waters


[free verse poem on a dream of 10-3-13. Photo "Return to the Sea" (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.

PIROUETTE (photo art) & GET THE PICTURE? (dream tanka with two-liner) by Roswila

GET THE PICTURE?

the dream keeps flashing unusual
renderings of "The World" Tarot card,
each version unique and each
spiraling tightly at its center
all focus pulled on each flash
to the spinning middle, too late
flicking to explore the defining edges


[a tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 10-2-13. Photo art "Pirouette" (2-19-10) by Roswila (another version of the photo art posted here yesterday). Below is what might be considered a traditional version of The World card in the Tarot, from the Rider/Waite/Smith deck:

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.

BADGE OF EVOLUTION (photo art) & CUTTING QUESTIONS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

CUTTING QUESTIONS

did I really slay an entire troop of Boy Scouts?
that slew of do-gooders with their endless badges
and insistence on conforming to the "norm"?

who's good when values vary endlessly?
how's a badge able to assure skill?
what's normal when everything's evolving?

I'll take responsibility only
for having asked these cutting questions

how they received them was up to them


[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-10-13. This piece is three weeks old. One of those I wasn't all that sure of so kept putting it aside in favor of newer ones. I'm still not all that sure, but I didn't have anything from last night. The only other unposted dream poem I have goes on forever and I'm just not up to editing it right now. So it's finally the Boy Scout's turn to be posted. Yeah, I could skip a day, however, I'm a creature of habit if nothing else. Photo "Badge of Evolution" (2-19-10) 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.

THE CHESHIRE CAT (photo art) & THAT QUIRKY CAT (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THAT QUIRKY CAT

so, I tell him, there she sat
at the center of my apartment
that large blue-grey cat

(you know, where I lived
for all those long years
before I moved here?)

well, there she sat, front paws
placed ever so precisely,
head high, ears on alert,
golden eyes staring me down

yeah, like a quirky Sphinx
she owned that moment
demanding that I guess
not only the right answer,
but the riddle


[free verse poem on a dream of 9-30-13. I've been dreaming of that actual apartment I lived in for 23 years quite a bit recently. (Not all those dreams appear here in poem form.) And I do really feel challenged to figure out what the issue/riddle is at the center of those years. Seems to me there's some "trick" or deceptive quality to it all given the riddle image I chose intuitively when drafting this poem. And it's also probably an old issue, greatly pre-dating (ancient, like the Sphinx) my years in that apartment. I also associate that cat's posture to statues of the Egyptian Goddess Bast that I've seen. (A quick google netted the interesting fact that Bast was originally a lion goddess, a protectress. And that Her later cat form probably reflected a level of reverence in Egypt comparable to that of the cow in India. Hm.) Photo "The Cheshire Cat" (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.

EYE OF THE NEEDLE (photo art) & THE SHOO-IN (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE SHOO-IN

the CEO encourages her to apply
for a job, "Just between you and me
you're a shoo-in for the position"

she dresses in her corporate best even
wearing a trim skirt that shows her
recently slimmed figure at its best
(hey, a salary's a salary, she can wear
her feminist badge later at home)

but when she reaches the office door
she's dumbfounded: concrete
steps glare in the morning sun,
a good three feet high each
and worse, there's no other entrance!

the guard's carefully neutral gaze
follows her as she sidles to the far left
and attempts to haul herself up
using the cold metal hand railing

no go! both bad knees and tight skirt
stop her lifted foot at barely half way
up the bottom step, what a pickle...

she gives up, knowing from long
experience she's been defeated
so much for that shoo-in
too soon to go there, if ever again
as she turns away the guard's eyes
betray a flicker of sympathy

retracing her steps home through
the grocery store aisles she wonders
what snacks she should stock up on,
her new shape and slim skirt already
buried beneath the weight of yet
another disappointment


[free verse poem on a dream of 9-30-13. A dream filled with very important messages. Most of them implied "don'ts." No matter what various life struggles and disappointments present themselves, just keep going with my "getting healthy project" (i.e. more exercise and losing weight). I think the image of seeking a paying job is particularly interesting. On recall of the dream I immediately realized I've already been expecting a big "pay off" for only a couple months of work on my health. And that way lies certain disappointment, as I have many, many months yet to go. I.e., the overall point to this dream might be boiled down to: don't expect too much too soon. And I'd even say to try not to expect anything, but embrace each step ("successful" or not) along the way. Photo "Eye of the Needle" (9-11-13) 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.

END OF THE ROMANCE (photo) & ABOARD THE TITANIC (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

ABOARD THE TITANIC

the fussy layers of our finest clothes
seem to take forever to undo
and drop to the ship's deck,
even as we help each other

the listing of the sinking ocean liner
takes each petticoat, shirt, shoe,
and tie on a slow slide
toward the railing

our passion for this one last
coupling grips us even tighter
as ever more skin thrills
to touch and the cool sea air

some might say we're fiddling
while Rome burns, well, maybe,
but what more alive way to pass
the time we have left
as the ship goes down?


[free verse dream poem on a dream of 9-28-13. I do see personal issues in this dream. However, I think the larger inputs are the recent mass shootings in Africa and here, and the mass stupidity of our U.S. Congress re: the government budget. Oh, and of course, the recent report on global warming. It does feel as if we live on a sinking ship sometimes. Photo "End of the Romance" (1-4-10) 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.