HEART OF THE DUNE (photo art) & ON GOING 'ROUND THE HORN (dream narrative) by Roswila

ON GOING 'ROUND THE HORN

the sick man on his pallet must be
carried up the steep hill of sand,
but even with several of us
hauling we cannot make
any headway, our feet sliding
and our ankles bending,
no purchase or balance in the
shifting almost liquid sand

I stand at the bottom of the hill
refusing to give up, wondering
what other direction we might
come from to arrive at the goal:
the top of this steep
sandy hill where it opens
onto the restored boardwalk

my young woman friend
looks more annoyed each time
I speak up with another idea,
the most recent that we "go
'round the horn" via the road,
heft the man and pallet
up street stairs further along
on to the boardwalk, and from there
to the top of this hill ... "Surely,"
I note, "though many, many more
footsteps and a lot of stairs,
we'd have firm footing all the way..."

my friend rounds on me, openly
very aggrieved "Oh, just shut up ...
know when you're beaten,
why don't you? I don't want to hear
anymore ideas, failed hope
hurts too much"

I'm grateful she finally spoke out
but still think this new approach
could very well do the trick,
getting the man on his pallet safely
where he needs to go

how can I be silent
just to avoid the possibility
of causing her more guilt and pain?


[narrative on a dream of 2-15-14. Again, let me stress that all these characters are aspects of myself. What I'd most like to know, of course, is what "going 'round the horn" would be in my life right now. I.e., what actual activity or direction. As I typed that I thought it may simply suggest that I'll have to be patient. Things will take a lot longer than I'd like. That the greater problem is a desire to just give up; along with an implied desire to be taken care of, "carried." I may have used the line (or one very similar to it) "failed hope hurts too much" in some other dream poem. But maybe it just seems so familiar because I've thought it an awful lot in recent years. Photo art "Heart of the Dune" (11-19-09 8259ev6) 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.