AT THE EDGE (photomorph) & YOU'RE IN THE NAVY NOW (dream tanka series w/2-liner) by Roswila

YOU'RE IN THE NAVY NOW**

they've no idea,
and neither do I, why this WAVES*
gal insists on me
but recruited I've been
and I'm in the navy now

even though it turns out
it wasn't me she wanted
it's a fait accompli
and steady, free travel work
is nothing to sneeze at

the next demand from
this higher ranked WAVES woman
is right to my face,
direct and undeniable:
to baby sit for her infant

I really don't mind
I've seen her dark haired baby,
tiny and curious,
it will be a delight
fulfilling this assignment

but I won't take her
infant girl to the jungle's edge
as she's ordered,
just carrying her safely through
the subway's adventure enough

this new little life is in my care now
and my way of caring it will be


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 9-20-14. *WAVES = in the early 1940's, "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" (before women gained permanent status in the Navy in 1948). **You're in the navy now = my slight dream re-write of the lyrics to the war song "You're in the army now..." These military dream metaphors were certainly influenced by having watched the Ken Burns PBS T.V. film series "The Roosevelts," with all its war photos and film footage. I also find it interesting that the time period this dream references via its choice of images, is of the years just before, during, and after my birth. At one level, a wish I could re-parent myself? Am I doing so in some ways already? I also think a recognition I came to gradually while watching this T.V. series is hidden in this dream. I have been brought to a deeper and more compassionate awareness of the events that were deeply and permanently impacting my family's life, from grandparents to parents, uncles, etc. Oy, I'll have to stop here. This is a dream poem, not a history review. Photomorph "At the Edge" (8-16-14 024v8a) 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.