TWO BY TWO (photo) & SHOPPING DAY (dream narrative) by Roswila

SHOPPING DAY

two teenage boys watch secretly
from behind the well-stocked shelves
of the supermarket as a hetero-couple
shop for children to adopt

the female hangs back observing
while the male goes from one child
to another lining the market aisles,
as she gives her mate coded comments
on each girl or boy via her subtle
hand gestures and facial expressions

when the couple leaves the store
as silently as they shopped with two
preternaturally quiet children,
the young men turn to each other
with puzzled looks

one wonders out loud about
the little girl with the endlessly
expressive smile and eloquent eyes,
"What a shame they didn't take her"

adding on a sigh "I hope she'll
get good parents here ...
then again, will that odd couple
that just left be good? Who knows?"

his friend nods a shock of dark hair,
responding "Yes, we can only know
for certain that they'll be human"


[narrative on a dream of 2-20-14. The feeling tone of that final "human" was very accepting, so my sense is that this dream has taken a small step ahead. I.e., that by saying "human" he meant a mix of good and well-meaning, imperfect and fallible, wise, and unaware. Along with everything else we humans are and can be. Photo "Two by Two" (1-5-11 10282e) 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.