THE WAY (photo) & THE DREAM OFFERS AN ANSWER (3 dream tanka w/4 2-liners) by Roswila

THE DREAM OFFERS AN ANSWER

my question answered:
an all too familiar dream
scenario rises
of another flight of stairs to climb
without knowing where they lead

a soap opera
star -- that much married one
from her now defunct show --
has even dressed to the nines
to accompany me

she doesn't stay
beside me long, though -- simply
vanishing, poof!
I'm also surprised to be able
to go on bending my arthritic knees

so, on I go -- rare for this sort of dream climb --
in bright daylight and between clean white walls

and unheard of, this flight's not broken or unfinished,
but extends to a landing with an open doorway

while just to the side, a tall male acquaintance waits
like a sphinx -- do I trust him? should I turn back?

yet does it really matter who stands this watch?
it's the doorway that beckons me on


[three tanka with four two-liners on a dream of 3-19-15. I incubated this dream by asking just before sleep for comment on my on-going deeply blue mood. (See dream poem of yesterday.) This dream was vaguely lucid as I did actually keep comparing this stairway climbing dream, as I was dreaming it, to the many others I've had over the years. I'm also struck at the contrast between going up in an elevator (the dream of yesterday) and climbing stairs. The former a public vehicle and not under one's control. The latter individual and using one's own power. And the dream poem of yesterday was focused on the past. While today's is about going into the unknown future. The ending reminds me a bit of that famous F.R. Stockton story, "The Lady, or the Tiger?" There's a whole lot more here, but I'll let it rest at this. Photo "The Way" (2-18-10 19927v6) 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....".

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‘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.