CLOWN FISH (photomorph) & AFTER FELLINI (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

AFTER FELLINI

the memory --

the traveling strong man fakes
everything but his abuse
of his fey woman who even so
offers a parade of discovery
through the dark night of his life
but his habit of fakery is stronger
than her fragile light
and he cannot see that he is lost


the dream --

circus folk are gathered for their
evening meal
a raucous crew
she wends her way through them
her passage leaving purpose if not
quiet behind her

she briefly greets her ex-husband
a visitor for the night
their violent past become a truce
a flicker in a rushing draft of ghosts

another visitor trails distantly after her
a menacing unknown
her ex collars the would-be molester
tossing him into the frigid night
like a bundle of rags or old news

warming to the truce between them
she invites her ex to travel with
this motley crew
this circus of a family
if only for a while

raising the pale jewels of his eyes
to hers he politely declines
“I have other plans” he says
“If they will accept me
maybe seminary”


[Written about a dream I had on December 27, 2000, many years after seeing and being deeply moved and disturbed, and in an odd way validated by the movie La Strada, by Fellini. It's the film that's referenced in "the memory" part above. I am all but certain I posted this two-part piece here in an earlier form but cannot find it on this blog. The entire month my records indicated it should be in is not listed in the archives. Fortunately, I thought to check my Word Perfect files on my computer for a copy (I've been working exclusively in WORD for years now.) So it was an interesting archeological dig in a couple of ways to find and polish up this old piece a wee bit. Why go digging at all? Because I'm at a crossroads similar to the one that precipitated this dream. One I come to again and again, learning from it at a deeper level or picking up something left behind, unfinished. Photomorph "Clown Fish" (11-14-14 034v5a) 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.

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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.