SHADOW WORK (photo art) & WHAT'S COOKIN'? (dream tanka series w/two-liner) by Roswila

WHAT'S COOKIN'?

"What's cookin'? Nothing new,"
I think, "not when my long time
enemy's here, too,"
then wonder if anyone
notices that we don't talk

but ultimately
it doesn't matter, as we
make our separate searches
through piles of old recipes
and lists of ingredients

before I know it
I'm happily by myself
in the living room,
attempting to organize
these mounds of rumpled paper

what concerns me now
more than finding that old deep
dish beef recipe
is a rational system
and accurate records

should everything
be strictly alphabetized?
or maybe I'll make
a simple IN and OUT box
titled Meal Preparation

making some sort of order out of all this chaos
will be more pleasing any day than what I could cook up


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 4-4-14. I got a giggle out of that pun on "beef" -- as in holding a grudge -- given the enemy appearing in the start of the dream. It seems rather than "cook up a grudge" these days, the "I" in this dream would prefer to file the incident away. May it be so! In a way, this dream is also a metaphor for my daily dream poems and for the memory work dreams themselves do. Layers on layers. Photo art "Shadow Work" (4-3-14 003v2) 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.

PROFILE (photo art) & "Nefertiti's face..." (dreamku) by Roswila

Nefertiti’s face
Queen or not, she's in cloisonne
on a slave bracelet


[very old dreamku written in January of 2009, though the source dream is I believe older than that. I remember feeling sort of sad about this little dream, way back then. But today when I came across it in my files I found it rather more multi-layered and even mildly amusing. Who knows whether its other implications were there back then and I missed them. It could be that some images stretch over time to accommodate life changes. A fancy way of saying I may now be projecting things not initially inherent in it, onto the symbol of this dream. All's fair in love and dreamwork! Photo art "Profile" (10-3-09 7273v3) 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.

HAUNTS (photo art) & UNSUITABLE (three dream tanka w/two-liner) by Roswila

UNSUITABLE

the baby's mother
appears to be not only
an adolescent
but exceedingly withdrawn
and emotionally frail

then there's the baby's
other mother, a dark haired
voluble harpy --
the poor infant, two moms
and both so unsuitable

the two women stand
next to each other and watch
as their baby cries,
their sides blurring together
as if they were Photoshopped ...

ah! they're actually one person, which makes
more sense, yet, what difference to the child?


[three tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 4-2-14. This is largely about aspects of myself. Three aspects, counting the baby. And there's a way in which the unmothered baby has actually "birthed" its two mothers. 'nuff said. Wandering through this little dream is like being caught in a mirrored maze in a haunted carnival. Photo art "Haunts" (3-14-14 011va) 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.

RUNAWAY MIND (photo art) & REARRANGEMENTS (dream tanka pair w/2 liner) by Roswila

REARRANGEMENTS

that new guy in my
periphery's really cute
but blast it all, he's
starting that man thing, telling
me what, and how, to do things

... uh, well, wait a sec ...
my desk might actually
fit best over there
where he just indicated
he could easily slide it ...

which would free up space to rearrange the rest,
hm, maybe more than my room needs rethinking


[two tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 3-31-14. The second of two recent furniture dreams. Still haven't gotten to what furniture represents in my personal dream vocabulary. But this dream is clearly addressing (yet again) how attached I get to my ways of seeing and organizing things. Hm, maybe that's it ... furniture is like one's thoughts. It's there to serve us, and can be rearranged and even tossed out. I.e., thoughts are not our masters nor are they stuck in place, any more than that recliner or this desk. Thoughts are useful and necessary, but they can and often need to be rearranged, and they can even outlive their usefulness. Photo art "Runaway Mind" (3-14-14 018v3) 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.

SHARING THE SPACE (photo) & NEW (dream tanka pair w/two-liner) by Roswila

NEW

we assemble all
new furniture for her room
I'm hopeful she'll be
a compatible roommate
as well as reliable

the last two pieces
we put together are shelves,
as we finish them
she turns to me with a smile
saying "I got these for you"

a double surprise! she'd actually noticed
what I need and then done something about it


[two tanka capped by a two-liner on a dream of 3-28-14 (posted 4-1-14). And I just had another furniture dream last night, will probably post that dream piece here tomorrow. Not sure yet what furniture may mean in my personal dream vocabulary, but it's been an issue in my actual waking life. Especially the need for more shelving and space (the latter getting the once over in last night's dream). Hm, just realized both night's dreams had new people in them. That sounds positive. Photo "Sharing the Space" (3-14-14 023v3) 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.

[untitled] (sketch-based image) & THE PICTURE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

* * * * * * * *

THE PICTURE

what a shot this will be,
down the long wooden stable,
stall doors lined up along
either side with exercise leads
hung neatly by each

and that stilt-legged foal
gamboling toward me
in the perfect mid-morning
light as it warms my shoulders

but the vision's quickly stretched
out of shape as if made of rubber:
that dang wide angle lens
on my new camera will skew
the lively relationships between
all these angles way beyond true

I let go of this warped vision,
in its place rising a back-of-the-mind
memory: in the tack room a tall
wire shelf gathers dust in a dark
corner, stacked with bag after bag
of potato chips of every type

time to go feed this all too familiar disappointment


[free verse poem on a dream of 3-30-14. Although yesterday's dream response was heartening, today's takes me to task. Which is fine. I've long recognized my way of seeing things is too often distorting. It's good to be reminded of this. And to have found a further use for that actual wide angle lens camera I have that is frequently problematic: it's a fitting dream metaphor (:-D). Additionally, the dream reminds me of the relationship sometimes between disappointment (with anyone/thing else or myself) and my eating issues. Image (in HAIGA) made from an original horse head sketch 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.

IN THE EYE OF THE LION (photo) & THE HEART IS IN THE DETAILS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE HEART IS IN THE DETAILS

Yeah, I tell you at first I didn't think
the dream answered my question,
after all I'd asked to understand why,
and I got a dream about a lion
crawling underneath my skin!

I already knew I had at least one large cat
crawling around there given how angry
and irritable I've been feeling these days,
I didn't need confirmation,
I needed clarification

but then, honey, I began to recall details,
like the lion came from a pride of healers
and the title "Coeur de Lion"
as it hung in my mind while the lion
crawled purposefully along
under the skin above my heart

sigh ... so the answer may not reside
in the why of anger,
but in a heart that needs to open


[free verse poem on a dream of 3-29-14. I actually did incubate a dream last night about the rather generalized anger I've been feeling and was puzzled when I recalled this dream. Only on drafting the above poem did I realize the heart connection. Of course, the dream also echoes the Strength card in the Tarot. A card I've associated dreams to a few times recently, that has a lion on it. Photo "In the Eye of the Lion" (3-26-14 021v10) 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.