THE FARTHEST BRAE (photo art) & THE WAY (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE WAY

the single lane mountainside road
wanders gently and steadily upward
through the bright afternoon

it's always good to have my father
at the wheel, it's been some time
since I've seen him and I can fully
relax into this trip as I trust
his driving more than
anyone else's

we say little to each other, awash
in the shifting tides of our separate
inner worlds, grateful
for the containing silence

when he makes a hairpin turn,
slipping easily into a small
roadside gas station for service,
I pay it no heed, my focus
staying on the trees lining
the roadway as they nod gently
against the cool blue sky
as if in agreement

turning back is briefly dicey,
the one lane nearly blocked by an
on-coming luxury car that seems
both out of place and time
on this wooded path

looking over his shoulder
he makes a last one-handed twist
of the steering wheel
as he murmurs "You know I only
followed the switchback because
I like that particular gas station"

"Yes, Dad," I respond softly
"I realize that...," not wanting to break
the supporting container of silence
we've found here together

he bobs his head, I smile, we ride on
knowing only that the way climbs
surely up between the nodding trees
and that this is enough


[free verse poem on a dream of 5-24-14. I have several different associations to this recurring dream image of a mountain path. But I'll leave it to any reader to bring her or his own sense to it. Also, as I've probably mentioned here before, my actual relationship with my father was not always this good. In fact, it was painful enough that it generated unpleasant (to put it mildly) dream visits, both before and after his death. Until I took on the years long task of healing it after his death, via lengthy journaling sessions in which I dialogued with him and refused to let either of us give up. For the many years since then he's been a very welcome fellow traveler. Photo art "The Farthest Brae" (4-6-14 003v6) 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.

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until next time, keep dreaming,

[a/k/a 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.