SWIZZLE STICK (photomorph) & THE SLOE GIN FIZZ (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THE SLOE GIN FIZZ

focused and present
he decides to make me
a sloe gin fizz,
he rushes over to the bar
and hurries through the bottles

when he gets back
to our table he discovers
the bottle of gin
he'd brought with him is empty,
not even droplets remain

in an annoyed flash
he's off to the bar again,
bottles clink and clash
as he continues his futile
search to find the proper gin

the hang dog look
on his face when he returns
would be comical
were it not so genuine --
I hasten to reassure him:

"I'm really not much of a drinker
so I'm not at all disappointed"

he barely listens, entering his usual totally
distracted state, as I think but don't say:

"The truly sweet treat was the gift
of having had your attention for a while"


[tanka series capped by three two-liners on a dream of 5-19-15. This is a loaded dream. The issue of drinking alone could generate pages of wide ranging comments. (Especially as I've been a teetotaler since my mid 30's.) But I'm most drawn to the bittersweet point of those last two lines. They've turned out to be a sort of gentle "heads up" to some further mourning I only yesterday realized I need to do. I could go on. Even as I've typed in these notes a slew of insights popped. But I'll stop here. And simply add that this is one of those dreams that I'm more than usually grateful for. Photomorph "Swizzle Stick" (5-18-15 010v2) 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.