UP IN SMOKE (photomorph) & BOGUS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

BOGUS

tobacco cigarettes are now rarer
than the proverbial hen's teeth,
obviously a marketing ploy
to raise prices even higher

although not a smoker myself,
I'm very involved helping others
(friends and strangers, alike)
with their anxious searches
for any outrageously costly
cigarette stocks remaining,
though none have been found
in a long time

then I hear of bogus smokes,
(that also cost an arm and a leg)
being sold secretly, and hewing
to my on-going need to be nice,
quickly tell a desperate
younger man of the rumor,
and though I have no details
to offer him, just the hope
of smoking again focuses
and calms him down

he and I, and another vague man
who worms his way into our company,
spend some time together as they
plan out how they'll start tracking
down the ersatz cigarettes

we end our meeting singing
a decent version of "Sweet Caroline,
good times never seemed so good...*
(surprised by my clarity
on each "Sweet Car-o-line")
that feels less like a love song
than my sad good-bye
to being nice
at any cost


[free verse poem on a dream of 12-12-15. *Lyrics from "Sweet Caroline," by Neil Diamond. This is another dream piece I had trouble categorizing. And, honestly, I'm getting tired of worrying about what others might think if I call something like this a poem. (Though I do so with good reason, based on my own understandings of poetry.) I'm rather tired of defending my writing choice (defending my choices in life in general!). So, I dub thee a poem, and that's all she wrote. Photomorph "Up In Smoke" (6-22-09 2656v15) 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.