HOW'S ABOUT A KISS? (photo) & THE KISS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE KISS
(a play in three acts)

Act One:

somehow she winds up in charge of the entire
circus when, as usual, she's no more qualified
or capable than anyone else -- yet it's landed
in her hands and she'll do the best she can --
but where's the little children's chorus
that starts the show? nobody knows or even
bothers to help her search and the heavy velvet
curtain's due to rise any minute


Act Two:

"Like I could care less!" she proclaims
in a stage whisper when all her roommates
make no objection to her moving out --
all she wants now is enough time to gather
and properly pack her personal effects
for carting away in one trip -- she doesn't
want to have to come back, ever again,
their blaming seeps into everything,
unstated but as palpable as a creeping fog --
she'll be better off beyond its chilly reach


Act Three:

desperate for a place to sleep for the night
she sneaks into a large, white wood classroom --
no one should be here this late, she figures,
and she'll be gone before the sun's pale pink
glimmer even starts -- after sheltering all night
beneath the teacher's dark wood desk she scurries
to gather her things, she's slept too long and it's
nearly full morning -- footsteps startle her,
she turns to see a man of her own advanced age
approach, his air like someone out of place or even
from another time -- he's not so much unaware
of her as uncaring, suddenly she sees why:
he rapidly morphs into a scaly blue-green dragon
-- the stunning sight triggers her own swift
shift, and her tall tiger self greets his new form,
snout to snout, in a power-filled parody of a kiss


[free verse poem on a dream of 1-3-14. "Advanced age," indeed. Today's my 70th birthday. And this dream does have the feel of an extremely condensed life review. Photo "How's About A Kiss?" (9-7-13 007v2) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS):

But first, a request: please let me know of any typos or other sorts of blunders in my posts. As my eyes age I'm finding more mistakes are creeping into what I put up here no matter how many times I proof it all. Thanks for any help!

The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, dream narratives -- 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 or narrative 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. I now tend to "show" (the dream story) 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 also pretty much applies to my free verse dream poems as well. As to what I have begun calling dream narratives, they are a different animal, probably most akin to prose poems.

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.

ROSE OF MOURNING (photo art) & BLACK HAS ALWAYS BECOME HER (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

BLACK HAS ALWAYS BECOME HER

is this the black of mourning
that sheaths her or the fertile ground
from which new life will spring?

and which dominates the scene,
all the same old/same old blaming
tossed thoughtlessly her way,
or her determination to say
her piece, then let it all go

she doesn't really know, not yet,
and maybe never will, she just
continues on her way responding
to what draws her most

like that handsome anchorman
from the evening news
she's always wanted to meet
who appears suddenly
in front of her apartment

black has always become her,
especially now with her new figure
supporting it ... she opens the door


[free verse poem on a dream of 1-2-14. Photo "Rose of Mourning" (12-24-13 017v3) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS):

But first, a request: please let me know of any typos or other sorts of blunders in my posts. As my eyes age I'm finding more mistakes are creeping into what I put up here no matter how many times I proof it all. Thanks for any help!

The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, dream narratives -- 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 or narrative 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. I now tend to "show" (the dream story) 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 also pretty much applies to my free verse dream poems as well. As to what I have begun calling dream narratives, they are a different animal, probably most akin to prose poems.

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 HERMIT (photo) & COMPARE & CONTRAST ... (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

COMPARE & CONTRAST ...

she finds it thoroughly engaging,
this responding to clues with her
own colorful abstracts which she
then collages to every surface
of two small rectangular trays

her designs on the first tray flow
with no white space to invite
interpretation, their low-intensity
colors and languid shapes drape
across the gaze and quiet the mind

the second tray radiates complexity,
white spaces looping through its
tumbling colors, brushing on
questions and hinting at import
while vaguely stirring the mind

but soon enough she finds herself
wrangling with words again,
long lists of questions, phrases,
comments: like endless cites
and footnotes they fill page
after page, margin to margin, neatly
word-processed and spell checked,
a scattered few italicized
and high-lighted in red

meaning and portent weigh
these words down, the pages
curling up as if in defeat beneath
the freight they carry,

unlike the colorful collages
on the two trays that rest lightly
in their undemanding shapes,
open to the warming morning sun


[free verse poem on a dream of 1-1-14. Too much to explain here, but this dream was deeply informed by a new book I just started reading. It's about a particular vein in the history of The Tarot, so far addressing what symbols are and what they do. Right up my alley, with my Jungian bent. Photo "The Hermit," a Found Tarot card (2-12-10 19681v2) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS):

But first, a request: please let me know of any typos or other sorts of blunders in my posts. As my eyes age I'm finding more mistakes are creeping into what I put up here no matter how many times I proof it all. Thanks for any help!

The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, dream narratives -- 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 or narrative 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. I now tend to "show" (the dream story) 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 also pretty much applies to my free verse dream poems as well. As to what I have begun calling dream narratives, they are a different animal, probably most akin to prose poems.

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.

Old family photo with "he's no longer here..." (non-dream monoku) by Roswila

he's no longer here, yet, the New Year's sun undimmed


[non-dream monoku (i.e., one line haiku) written 1-1-14 in memory of my younger brother, Russ (9/17/48 - 12/28/13). He's the baby in the photo above, with our mother and me, just before we moved to New York City from Florida in late 1948.]

PLEASE NOTE: There are many other sorts of daily posts on this blog. The vast majority being my poetry based on dreams with my digital photos accompanying each. Some non dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems, scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006, at the end of the sidebar.

* * * *

til next time, keep dreaming,






[aka: Patricia Kelly]


**** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or poems, please email me for permission (under "View my complete profile") **** My other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT, digital photos. ****

LAYERING (photo art) & PARADOX (non-dream poem) by Roswila

PARADOX

how embrace
this angular regret
nourish this grief grown burr
spurring
springing
prying
my impacted life open

how delay
the protective accretion of a pearl
slow friction's inevitable
rounding


[non-dream poem written middle 1970's. Another of the many, many old poems I've been revising. Most in little ways, tweaking them into (hopefully) better shape. The inquiry in this one has been raised again for me acutely in the aftermath of my brother's death Saturday. Photo art "Layering" (12-4-13 010v3) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS):

But first, a request: please let me know of any typos or other sorts of blunders in my posts. As my eyes age I'm finding more mistakes are creeping into what I put up here no matter how many times I proof it all. Thanks for any help!

The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, dream narratives -- 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 or narrative 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. I now tend to "show" (the dream story) 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 also pretty much applies to my free verse dream poems as well. As to what I have begun calling dream narratives, they are a different animal, probably most akin to prose poems.

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.

LOOKING BACK (photo) & AN INTERESTING FIX (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

AN INTERESTING FIX

well, what an interesting fix
this is! for a change, instead of losing
my purse in a dream it's filled with money,
old, faded, and heavily wrinkled bills!

I want to count it ... seriously, it must be
a considerable amount, each batch of
several I pull out is a mix of singles,
fives, twenties and even the occasional
fifty dollar bill, the faces on each
staring at me expectantly

the layers of green on my lap grow,
threatening to slide every which way,
as I worry about what others will think
if they see me smoothing and organizing,
counting and wondering over this
mountain of found cash

though I suppose this will mean no more
to them than any of the many other printed
pictures and words I pull out of odd places

ah well, as I've heard it said too often,
one person's trash is another's treasure


[free verse poem on a dream of 12-29-13. First, a sad follow up to my post of 12-17-13 about my brother's illness: he passed away late Saturday afternoon, December 28th. I spent some time last night trying to figure out a special memorial post but right now don't have the heart to make one. Maybe sometime in the future I'll share a few more photos of him from when he was little (I don't have any of him as an adult). I also haven't got the energy to go into this dream poem here. Though I will say it's not unrelated to the grief and other fall out from my brother's death. Oh, and yes, the dream was mildly lucid but only in the very beginning when I recalled dreams of losing my purse. Photo "Looking Back" (9-23-13 007v2) by Roswila]

BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO DREAMKU (& PHOTOS):

But first, a request: please let me know of any typos or other sorts of blunders in my posts. As my eyes age I'm finding more mistakes are creeping into what I put up here no matter how many times I proof it all. Thanks for any help!

The dream-based poems posted on this blog -- dreamku, tanka, two-liners, monoku, free verse, dream narratives -- 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 or narrative 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. I now tend to "show" (the dream story) 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 also pretty much applies to my free verse dream poems as well. As to what I have begun calling dream narratives, they are a different animal, probably most akin to prose poems.

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.