CRESTING (photo art) & THE SCRAMBLE (dream prose poem) by Roswila

THE SCRAMBLE

dang it all! where's this leak coming from?
catching it in a cup as it weeps out
of the yellow wallpaper* and emptying it
again and again in the sink is not only
a bore but just plain impractical ... well,
dummy, follow the wet trail up the wall
to its source, why don't you? ... hm, I never
knew one can see right up into the attic
from here above the bathroom, of course
I hadn't ever made the stretch before
to chase a leak, nay, a small waterfall ...
omigosh! small waterfall indeed! I'd better
let the landlord know about this right away,
all his stored boxes are getting soaked
by that fountaining plume of water
in the middle of the jumble ... uh, at least
I'll call him as soon as I can back myself
down from this precarious perch,
that soggy floor below looks awfully
far away, and I feel like a treed cat:
it was lot easier to scramble up


[prose poem (? -- I'm having that difficulty again recently with what to call much of what I post here) on a dream of 4-25-14. *The yellow wallpaper is the title of an early feminist horror story and was my immediate association to the wallpaper in this dream. It's one of those stories that has stuck with me intensely over the years and has shown up before as a dream association. I'm not sure what tree I've got myself up, but I sure do feel stuck here, at least for the nonce. I find it interesting that water in this dream is coming from above (at least its immediate source, who knows where the roots of the fountain may be). Water in my dreams is usually of the lake or sea variety, and I'm usually on or in it. Photo art "Cresting" (4-6-14 009v4) 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,







[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.

TORTURED TAKE OFF (photo art) ) BIRDS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

BIRDS

the skinny boy child's the only one
in a full classroom of attentive kids
to ignore the instructions I give

he'll not entangle his fingers
in the way I demonstrate,
nor make up a story about a bird
from the shapes I point out

I try to draw him into this exercise
but his only response is a quiet
"Why do I have to do anything at all?"

I continue to flutter by his side
refusing to leave any child behind,
a knot of knowing building
in my stomach that even speaking
to his parents would be of no avail

for it's clear he bears their dark belief
like a boulder blocking a cavern mouth:
that he cannot learn to fly


[free verse poem on a dream of 4-24-14. Photo art "Tortured Take Off" (4-19-14 005v7) 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,







[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.

THAT SINKING FEELING (photo art) & WATERFALLS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

WATERFALLS

ah, isn't this intriguing, she says,
both our little town and that large city
end abruptly in waterfalls,
plummeting from defining boundaries
into unbroken nothingness

Niagara Falls hasn't a thing
on these two shows, for the unknown
trumps spectacle any day,
at least in my book


[free verse poem on a dream of 4-23-14. Although I occasionally hear a sort of narrating "I" voice in a dream, I did not in this one. Rather I chose to write about it in an "I" voice as a way of getting across what I simply knew and felt as the sort of non-present observer of these images. Photo art "That Sinking Feeling" (4-24-14 002v8) 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,






[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.

SEEKER (photo) & IF AT ALL (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

IF AT ALL

he was her friend in years
gone by and wanders in
and out of her dreams
every so often now
like a passing cloud
whose weather portent
is never clear

as always she has something
she wants to give him, this time
a collage of orange pictures
she'd promised to make
and has finally finished

she gladly fumbles through her
papers for the crisp page still
smelling lightly of drying fixative,
as he stands by maundering on
about why hadn't anyone told him
the party had been moved
to a different location

she doesn't even try to figure out
who's more the alien in this scenario
but puts down the collage and thinks:
yes, maybe she could have called him
about the party, yet they'd all
found out the same way
she did, by showing up
just now at the wrong place
and moving on

and what about her gift
of the collage? has that even ruffled,
much less opened the perpetual curtain
of his preoccupation?
apparently not

once again she sadly notes
that what one may desire to offer
and what the other one wants
rarely matches up well,
if at all


[free verse poem on a dream of 4-22-14. This was an actual friend of mine in years past, back in New York City. And, yes, the dream was vaguely lucid at the beginning when I realized I was dreaming about him again. Orange is an interesting color for me when it shows up in dreams, as it's one of my least favorites. There's a long-standing association (not sure where it came from) I have to it of ambition. Also, one of the meanings in Bob Hoss's color chart for dreams resonates for me today: "I feel restless, driven by desires and hopes." These are shadow aspects for me as I've not been all that in touch with them. I could go on, but won't. Suffice it to say this is an anxiety dream. Probably largely precipitated by, but not limited to, my up-coming photo exhibit/sale on April 27th. Photo "Seeker" (4-19-14 006v3) 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,







[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.

DUSTING DAY (photo art) & "morning haze..." (non-dream monoku) by Roswila

morning haze palm fronds dust the sky


[non-dream monoku (one line haiku) written 4-17-14. This was written in that favorite place of mine to sit at the end of a walk, overlooking our pool. And that haze is the marine layer I referred to in the title of yesterday's post. Photo art "Dusting Day" (8-4-13 003v3) 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,

[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.

BEFUDDLED (photo art) & MARINE LAYERS (non-dream tanka pair) by Roswila

MARINE LAYERS*


hobbling through my rooms
on a high pain morning
I despair of ease,
even as the opening blinds
spill light despite the gray


* * * *

my favorite view
from above the dimpling pool
or is it the same?
pride at overcoming pain
blurs each dancing debut


[two non-dream tanka written 4-21-14. *Marine layer is the term for the weather condition this time of year that regularly produces a morning haze, clearing by mid-day. Often referred to here in south central CA as May Gray or June Gloom. Photo art "Befuddled" (4-6-14 009v6) 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,

[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.

DRAGONS RISING (photo art) & BACKSEAT DRIVER (2 tanka w/1 dreamku) by Roswila

BACKSEAT DRIVER

"No-no-no look where
you're driving, you fumbling fool!"
he barks the order
from over the backseat
into his minion's ear

watching this dream scene
I note he's just as addled
as his young flunky
after all he chose this guy
to be his constant helpmate

and no one gets
his approval anyway
his blacklist's endless


[two tanka capped by a dreamku on a dream of 4-19-14. Yes, I was not really a presence in this dream except as a watching/reacting one. Which makes a sort of funny comment in that my watching self was judging just as much as the backseat driver. And that is exactly the point, I'd say. I'd gone to sleep wondering (yet again, this has been going on for days) why I've been so angry with the world. One symptom was how hard it was getting for me to do my usual gratitude exercise before going to sleep. Some of that has to do with fear of losing what I'm grateful for. But this little dream reveals another level. Photo art "Dragons Rising" (4-19-14 005v5) 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.