NEURONIC NETHERWORLD (photo art) & SIMPLY NOTHING (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

SIMPLY NOTHING

she's no warmer toward me than one
of those cold fronts dumping snow and rain
everywhere except in this land of drought

and all he wants, has ever wanted, is to glow
with pride over my pretty face and figure
(as if he'd chosen these genes
and they weren't the luck of the draw)
no matter my empty depths
still cry futilely for something else

these two lie long dead, along with all
the others (some only metaphorically so
but dead to me nevertheless)
gone to whatever waits beyond the veil

yet I was more alone when all were living,
more able to establish boundaries,
to reject manipulative fawning,
to resist the pull to petition cold fronts

yes, I still wail a fervent "No!"
with each re-haunting, yet
what ground is there to stand upon,
what flesh to turn away from,
what boundaries to be drawn within
this intangible network of fire flashing
nerves I call a mind? for this
is where they live (have always lived)

my only prayer on nights as burning
as this? may there be not even ashes
once death draws the final curtain
on this melodrama:

no applause,
no reviews,
no revivals,
simply
nothing


[free verse poem on fragments from several dreams of 2-17-14. Photo art "Neuronic Netherworld" (6-10-09 2020v3) 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.