EVENING IN THE MOUNTAINS (photomorph) & SHE LEAVES THE WAR BEHIND (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

SHE LEAVES THE WAR BEHIND

she leaves the war behind
going in search of her General
the one who'd also
given up on all the battling
to live in these rolling mountains

she finds him, and by
way of a greeting says "Life as a soldier
was an endless fight,"
though he does not seem to need
or even want an explanation

his serenity
brushes her from its great depth,
they sit on a log
as he takes a brief break from the day's
work of preparing this rocky hill,

for the planting season
has come around again for
the community
descended from ancient Indians
of which he's become a part

she looks out over
the hill, "More like a bunch of rocks,"
she thinks but doesn't say --
the familiar twinkle of a smile
she remembers livens his face

"Yes, my dear, the work
of the world is never done"
he notes following
her judging gaze, "One does not
even get to rest on one's laurels,

rock piles in need of clearing
rise as surely as seedling crops
in the path ahead,
however, if one is lucky
very, very lucky, this happens..."

his gentle sweeping gesture includes the hill on which
they rest and the mountains against a translucent sky

"...the heavy curtain of thinking opens and we're afforded
a glimpse of the forever beauty of impermanence"


[tanka series capped by two two-liners written on a dream from 4-28-15, during my spring blog break. I chose this one precisely because it is the polar opposite of my mood today. (Can we spell "cranky," children?) To be honest even as I dreamed it I wasn't "in" that serenity of the former General. But recalling the dream and writing about it gave me hope. What's that expression? To create something we first have to imagine it? Photomorph "Evening in the Mountains" (4-21-15 002xxx) 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.