Roswila's Dream & Poetry Realm

SEE ALSO: TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT (photos, realistic to abstract)

Saturday, June 28, 2014

WITH OPEN ARMS (photo art) & JOURNEY (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila


JOURNEY

I have deserted my branches
for the roots: a twin to shadows
to the underside of things

*

Room number five overlooks
the swaying marina
and has two doors:
one through which to come and go,
the other a locked
and barred fire door.

*

Even in loneliness I am not alone.
something trips on pebbles
in my wake, stirs dust
like small clouds of incense,
startles me with three-toed
footprints in deserted places.

*

Roses are said to bloom
in The Hollow even in December.
I fear its lush summer beauty,
its cup of forgetfulness.

*

At the spit of the island
I stand between two pounding tides,
nailed to an impossibly narrow
shelf of life by past and future.

*

Through a huge wound of distance
the sea appears calm.
Up close, great fists of water
fling rocks and broken shells
at my feet like jewels.

*

I follow a sea bird with a broken
wing that drags in the sand.
It flaps wildly into the water
from a belly take-off.
Then sails serenely along
in its element,
useless wing tucked neatly.

*

A light rain sketches
tentative circles on the surface
of a lily pond
and taps at the yellow
of my slicker.

*

Fog strings invisible spider webs
with lights. Pine needles dangle,
each with a perfect iridescent
globe at its tip. I lean closer,
hand out. The globes shed swiftly
and disappear into my palm.

*

A half dozen cows kneel together
in a field that rises
slowly into green.

*

I fling onto my back
in a patch of sunlight.
I am a five pointed star
within the wheel of the world,
an Ace of Pentacles,
a Wheel of Fortune.
For a space sharper than a blade
of grass, the sun burns
at the bidding of my belly.

* * * *


[non-dream poem written in 1985 from notes made on the first of what were to be many trips to Block Island, Rhode Island. I had lots of fantasies in those years of retiring to a place like B.I. And as I mentioned here at some time, I'm sure, moving to south central California in 2008 came extremely close to fulfilling those fantasies. (With the advantage of no isolating winter storms. Of course, then there's wild fires, droughts, and earth quakes. ) I posted "Journey" here in 2006 so think it can bear the repeat. I'd been thinking a lot of B.I. and realizing it's not so much a place that grabs our yearning, but how we felt when we were there. And that led to wondering if I'd ever feel the way I felt on this first B.I. journey, and during my first months here in CA, ever again. Yeah, a bit of self pity there, but that's the truth of it and it will pass. Photo art "With Open Arms" (BI pic folder) by Roswila, from a very old small faded scanned in pic of mine. That figure was a temporary art sculpture at sea's edge on Block Island. I snapped the pic on my first trip and for some reason I never brought a camera along again, only fully taking to photography on moving to CA in 2008.]

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.

Friday, June 27, 2014

IN THE MIRROR OF THE PAST (photo art) & SHAFTED (dream tanka) by Roswila


SHAFTED

the shaft through her heart's
an iridescent pink -- it slides
right out at first tug
leaving a wound clear through with
the query: who threw it and why


[tanka on a dream of 6-23-14. The theme of this one has repeated in various ways in the dreams from the three nights since I had it. Ultimately, "much ado about nothing" having really changed over the years. An aside: I recently came across some notes I made about tanka years ago. On a list comparing tanka and haiku was the comment that tanka were historically written to be chanted as a song (and haiku to be spoken crisply). Given a gentle tug I'm beginning to feel to try writing more in meter again that's a timely reminder. Photo art "In the Mirror of the Past" (6-27-14 005v7) by Roswila and, yes, it's a selfie, in which I see some strong family resemblances, both literally and metaphorically speaking.]

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.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

WATERCOLOR MOON (photo art) & THE COLORS OF NIGHT (free verse dream poem) by Roswila


THE COLORS OF NIGHT

the colors of night are caught up on my eyes
as I fly by new scene after scene
no feathers, no struts, no magical spells
just the veiling of colors and night

a young boy flies past crying out in delight
as he glides through the dawning day,
thin arms and small shoulders
aflutter with filmy blue sails

can you see me, he cries,
can you see what I'm doing,
I'm flying as high as the tallest of palms,
and as far as the sun and the cranes

I hear you, dear boy, I hear you
but the colors of night
are caught up on my eyes
and your darling young visage is fading

forgive me, dear child of my longing,
for flying away from your shining
but the colors of night
have always been caught on my eyes


[free verse poem on a dream of 6-25-14. The line "the colors of night are caught up on my eyes" is from the dream verbatim. And I think it's the rhythm in that line that prompted me to work very rhythmically in this entire poem. Since the piece is not written in any established form or consistent rhythm it may very well not work for anyone's ear but my own. Photo art "Watercolor Moon" 6-19-14 1010061ev8) 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.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

PATH THROUGH TWILIGHT (photo art) & NO MORE SHELTER (dream tanka w/two liners) by Roswila


NO MORE SHELTER

the ancient grape vine
totally shelters the stone path
up to our ranch home
a girl starts pruning its driest
branches, for which I'm grateful

though I love the twists and turns of its shadows,
it's needed remedial care for a very long time

then she abruptly
grabs it, yanking the entire vine
onto the pathway
what's more shocking: the sudden
sunlight or no more shelter

my father ambles
by toward the front door, stepping
around the debris
he nods approvingly
I'm still not sure what I think

but maybe thinking's not the point
when witnessing an old friend's death


[three tanka with two 2-liners on a dream of 6-24-14. Photo art "Path Through Twilight" (6-24-14 005v2) 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.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

LEAVING (photo art) & "the fall of a leaf ..." (non-dream tanka) by Roswila


the fall of a leaf
through the hazy blue sky
no trees standing by
what wind did it ride then lose
in this solo parting dance


[non-dream tanka written 6-23-14. Photo art "Leaving" (6-19-14 10019v6) 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.

Monday, June 23, 2014

FISHING FOR THE MOON (photo art) & THE LESSON (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila


THE LESSON
(on reading a new teacher's poetry)

I balance my impatience
like the lightly leafed branch
with which I stir
an edge of this lake

the ripples offered,
lines on an open palm


[non-dream free verse poem written in May of 1985, after the first class of a poetry workshop. Photo art "Fishing for the Moon" (6-19-14 1010061ev13) 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.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

NIGHT FISHING (photo art) & "trying to hold ..." (dream haiku) by Roswila


trying to hold
the river in a net
haiku after haiku


[haiku on a dream, written and previously posted in January of 2007, before I began calling these sorts of poems dreamku. (And well before I was accompanying them with my photos.) I came across this as I was going through the masses of dream-based poetry I have, preparing to make some submissions for publication in a dream magazine. It hit me when I read this one that it is pretty much how I've continued to feel. I keep casting out haiku (or tanka, or monoku, or any other sort of poem, dream-based or not) trying to net something, that ultimately flows right on through it. But, as I said to an acquaintance the other day, the process of writing is always nourishing. What happens once I've completed the net of the poem? Well, the lesser (or greater) disappointment I find lingering behind does not diminish the joy I took (and continue to take) in the process. BTW, these two distinct phases apply to working on my photos also, or any other sort of creative effort. Photo art "Night Fishing" (5-3-14 6646e) 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.