SEASON OF FLOODS (photomorph) & COUPE DE GRACE (dream narrative) by Roswila

COUPE DE GRACE

for a while it was my questions,
questions, questions, now it's anger
spilling out at others
in dream after dream

one night's fury rose after walking
through a door toward healthier things,
and last night's before quitting an awful job
then rushing out a different door:

I'm a mid-level office manager,
trying my best to organize
an office overflowing
with the work flooding our unit (again)

I finally finish sorting piles of paperwork
that tend to slip readily into disarray
like mud slides, trusting that our young clerk
is clearing space as I asked her to do
for these paper mounds once the work
that's commanded in their layers
of memos and letters is done

when I approach her, she's her usual
cavalier self, claiming there's plenty
of room now and for the future,
just look at how much space she's made,
and this is when I lose it

there's clearly not anywhere near
enough space for what we have now,
much less for the future accumulation
that is bound to bury us,
as is the wont of offices

not only that, but (as usual) she assumes
her work is done, and turns on her heel
almost skipping off, well pleased
with herself, and leaving everything to me

I turn to my boss who's been watching
all of this go down, my eyes wide
with disbelief and my mouth agape
like some hapless hooked fish,
thinking my boss can't help but agree
with me, but all I hear from him
is how sweet natured the young clerk is,
and that she's clearly doing her best

then he drives home the coupe de grace
"You can certainly handle it all,
anyway, you always do, don't you?"

"I QUIT!" bursts instantly from me,
followed immediately by
"The buck no longer stops here!"

I grab my purse like a life preserver
and stomp out


[narrative on a dream of 12-16-15. Sigh, just when I'd resolved not to get so concerned with what to call any particular style of dream piece here, I'm stuck worrying again. E.g., I wrote in all the water/fish images, i.e. they were not expressly in the dream. So, does that make it a poem, or at least poetic? Ah well, it is mostly prosey so I'll settle (if not happily) for calling it a dream narrative. Hm, here's a thought: do I have to call these uncertain ones anything in particular at all? Maybe just say "written on a dream of..." and leave it that; something to consider. Photomorph "Season of Floods" (10-3-09 7260ea) 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; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.