HAIR-RAISING (photo art) & OF LAUNDRY & LEASHES (dream narrative) by Roswila

OF LAUNDRY & LEASHES

my father and a vague young man
separate the two small fighting dogs,
no sooner pulled apart than one
of the growling creatures
runs over to me where I sit
on the edge of my bed, piled high
with unfolded just washed laundry

the pale grey wolf-like dog continues
to growl as it tries again and again
to scramble up on to the bed
next to me

ever since childhood I've feared
the sound of a growling dog,
but this time I don't suffer in silence
afraid to insult my father who chose
the dog back then and probably
also this time, but speak right up
and ask him to "Please,
leash this animal!"

he quickly steps forward as if it hadn't
occurred to him that the dog's leaping
and vocalizing were hostile or at the very
least scary to me, and firmly grabs
the dog by the collar buried in its thick
silvery fur, snapping a leash to it

no sooner do I sigh with relief that I
and my mounds of clean laundry
are safe, but the dog approaches
me again from the end of his long lead

he sits placidly at my feet for all
the world like my new best friend,
his muzzle on his front paws,
looking soulfully up at me
with shiny midnight eyes

"Why does this always happen to me?"
I say to my father "...what I fearfully reject
comes right back in some other form ...
how can I ever learn to trust?"


[narrative on a dream of 2-4-14. It was my actual father in this dream and there was an actual childhood incident with a new dog for our family he brought home that growled at me. This dream is really rather positive. Those two dogs are "fighting" aspects of myself (there are many such pairs I'm afraid). That the most obstreperous aspect was "leashed" feels really hopeful. There's a lot more in this dream, but I'll leave it at this. Photo art "Hair-Raising" (4-25-11 10768ev8) 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....".

* * * *

‘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.