APRISCOTING (photo art) & THE BIGGER PROBLEM (dream narrative) by Roswila

THE BIGGER PROBLEM

she leaves me in the passenger
seat of the car, the driver side door
slamming behind her in her haste
to explore up close a new bright
colored complex of buildings
in our neighborhood

even as she becomes a silhouette
in the twilight against the ambitious
orange of the buildings the car
I wait in begins to roll
backward from the curb

oh no! I still haven't learned how
to drive and it's picking up speed
I fling my left leg over the divider
between the bucket seats, aiming
for the brake and, of course, I hit
the accelerator and the vehicle
jumps forward

even as I thrash my foot around
trying to find the brake, I lower
the window and start yelling
"Police! Police! Get the police!
I don't know how to drive!"

finally! my blind flailing finds
the brake and my runaway ride
starts to slow, but I have to stomp
and hold the brake to the floor,
my foot aching, the car taking
centuries it seems to fully stop
askew a narrow concrete meridian

I can barely speak as cops surround
the car, my voice a ghostly whisper
in the now fully settled night

after the lead policeman hears me out
he puts one hand on the car to lean in
toward me, the other on his holstered gun,
and says looking down and away,
"Your bigger problem's that windshield
of inward facing mirror"


[narrative on a dream of 2-2-14. One of those more than usually chock-full dreams. "Complex" as in psychological complex? Fear of being out of control? And the color orange has several levels of meaning (which color I saw in the dream, that being somewhat unusual for me). Etc., etc. But that mirrored windshield is a corker of an image. Ultimately the dream seems to be saying the biggest problem is I'm still only seeing my own reflection. And don't get me started on it being the "windshield" that's mirrored! Ack. Well, I asked my dreams for help as I went to sleep last night and this is what was offered. Not all medicine is nice tasting or easy to swallow. Photo art "Apriscoting" (9-23-14 004v3) 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. (This all applies to any of the non-dream poems posted here, too.)

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....".

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‘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.