DANCE FOR THE DAY (photomorph) & THE PHOTO (dream tanka series w/2-liner) by Roswila

THE PHOTO

in the dream she sees
her nine-year old self, posed in
that fading photo
she no longer has, a nervous
ballerina, pre-performance

the angle from which
the photo was taken makes
her arabesque look
like a flamingo's stand, her raised
leg hidden by her tutu

that tutu sewn by
her mother, while she hovered
curious and happy
to have her mother's attention
so focused on her costume

the photo also shows
the stage make-up that her father,
the singer/actor,
had carefully applied, slightly
maturing her child's face

and what a great gift
this dream photo's rise quickly
proves to be, even
though seeing it prompts memory
of her mother's death a year later,

and the subsequent
loss of her father to forever
mourning -- for this
dream version holds what its
lost physicality never did:

the recognition that there'd been a time
she'd danced lightly in a family's embrace


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 2-23-15. This was prompted by a dream in which I saw a photo I no longer actually have but recall clearly. All details are autobiographical and were recalled in the dream, as well. And that ending insight is what hit me as I was waking up and beginning to sketch out this poem in my mind. Photomorph "Dance for the Day" (1-22-15 004v3) 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.