A DIFFERENT SLANT (photo) & WORKING MEMORY (dream narrative) by Roswila

WORKING MEMORY

she hurries around the high-rise
office building trying to find
her way, though exactly what
her way is she's not yet clear on,
only that she hasn't found it
in this maze of halls and rooms
as convoluted and endless
as any neural network

at least she recognizes these offices
from years past, the old editorial
headquarters of that romance book
publisher she'd worked for, she knows
this alternating arrangement of wide
then narrow halls like the backs
of her own hands

but examining the familiar gets
her no place, only bored and vaguely
anxious for she yearns to go someplace
new, surely her work here's been
completed and long ago

she begins avidly seeking an exit
from these rooms, this building,
but just finds more offices, warrens
of rooms at the ends of cul-de-sacs,
lit by vaguely flickering fluorescent
lights and smelling stringently
of carpet cleaner

her frustration intensifies along
with her hurry, she speaks to worker
after worker asking that they
point her to an exit, but they each
might as well be deaf for all
the response she gets as she
flits from one to the other

she stops her frantic rushing around,
planting her feet firmly on the grey
utilitarian carpet and speaking
out above the on-going hum
of the office hive, her tone and pitch
demanding to be heard by all:

"Someone just show me the way out!"

and at last a response, a dark-haired
young worker approaches her saying
he can help, but before she can even
feel relief he adds "... however, I have
to finish all my work first"

"Can't you even take the time
to draw me a little map?" she asks,
but only half-heartedly

she's beginning to see that the wages
of being in a rush when at the mercy
of memory at its work add up to nothing


[narrative on a dream of 3-12-14. I did actually work in the editorial headquarters of Harlequin/Romance book publishers in New York City, back at the turn of the century. I met a roommate there who was with me for 7 years, and I was working there on 9/11. And there's more yet in this "memory work." A busy night of neural connecting and re-arranging, I'd say. FYI, that's a reference to the theory that in certain sleep states our brains are busy moving memories from short term into long term memory, and hooking them up -- like making cross-references for them. This is the first dream I recall in which there was a vague awareness of that theory. Photo "A Different Slant" (3-3-14a 009v2) by Roswila]

PLEASE NOTE: in most browsers you can click on the above image for a larger version. Also, the photo accompanying a post is not necessarily meant to illustrate it, but to reflect some small, even slant aspect of the verse, similar to Japanese haiga (illustrated haiku).

There are many other sorts of posts on this blog. I indicate which are about or influenced by dreams. Some non dream focused posts are book reviews, "regular" poems (some by other writers, as the above is), scifaiku, writing exercises, Tarot haiku, photos, haiga, and so on. However, most of those are in much older posts. There's a listing by month going back to early 2006, at the end of the sidebar.

* * * *

until next time, keep dreaming,

[aka: Patricia Kelly]
**** 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.