IN THE HEADLIGHTS (photo morph) & LONG DISTANCE (dream tanka series w/two-liner) by Roswila

LONG DISTANCE

the long distance bus
pulls into a hub station
with no explanation
we're told to disembark
and wait for another bus

the silence as we
do so is rather unusual
and somewhat eerie
I'm the only one to brave it
asking about my suitcase

the driver's clearly
annoyed by my question
and ignores it
pointing me to the lounge
we're all to go sit in

the artificial light
of the lounge glares brightly
as I wander through,
seated passengers grouped by
the number of bus they're awaiting

I see an old friend
in group number thirty-five
and head right for her
not caring if that's the correct
bus number for me or not

and how does anyone
learn their own number anyway?
bus personnel remain
silent -- I'll take my chances
in the company of my friend

for even if one knows one's number
it doesn't matter until it's up


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 8-23-14. The number 35 is highly significant to me. At that age (half my lifetime ago) I made a choice to act that I only see now may have saved my life. And also only recognize now that I have made and continue to make a similar choice at present. BTW, the woman in this dream is an actual present day friend who made the same choice to act in her youth that I did (though we did not know each other then). Photo morph "In the Headlights" (7-17-10 10003ev5) 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.