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.