Notice of Blogging Break; WATERLOGGED (photomorph); & THE LAST DREAM OF THE NIGHT (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

Before posting the photo & poem for today (below) I should say that it's my last posting for a while. I'm taking a spring break from blogging. Oh, I'll keep writing dream poems and working on pix, for sure. And reading and answering comments and emails about my blogs or otherwise. I just want to free up some time for other things that are pressing right now. Don't know how long I'll be on a blogging break. Depends on how everything goes. Now to the post:

THE LAST DREAM OF THE NIGHT

...shows my now deceased
brother had been not only
overweight at times
but in the earliest years of our
estrangement, even obese

in a perverse way
this delights me, that he lived with
the same big problem
(you should pardon the pun) I've
struggled with and been so judged for

but, jeeze, like most men
whether fat or otherwise
he'd still had great legs --
envy sours the brew of delight
I've just begun to whip up

comparisons and tipsy understandings
may be sweet, like junk food on the tongue

but like empty calories they ultimately swell
harsh underlying truths to mind numbing sizes

can I then just take pride in being a survivor?
who knows? it could be a fluke or in my genes

bottom line, I'm here
and he and many others are gone --
I'd do much better
to let the dead rest undisturbed
and get up and make my bed


[tanka series with three two liners on a dream of 4-16-15. Rather synchronous that the last dream poem written before considering and deciding to take a spring break from blogging, has a title beginning "The Last Dream..." Seems my dream world was ahead of my conscious one, as usual. Photomorph "Waterlogged" (5-9-12 11913v10a) 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.

THE MUSIC GOES ON (photomorph) & A TALE FROM SCHEHERAZADE'S WELL (short-short dream based story) by Roswila

A TALE FROM SCHEHERAZADE'S WELL

This is an old, old tale from the land of Scheherazade's well, stirred up by the winds of change. Set in a time when magic was still possible if soon to be forgotten. And a King not a Congress, still ruled the people, advised by two powerful Sheik's. One at each hand whether he roamed the kingdom, or sat at the castle's large marble conference table. The one on his left, promoting the needs of the crafts folk and herders. And the one on his right, the principles of the wealthy and educated.

We come to this story as the King is enduring persistent talk from each side. Both Sheiks deeply believe it imperative that gold be allotted for an investigation of a particular composer. A musical genius whose work was ancient long before their own time. The meaning of the composer's three long and odd sounding names "just must be determined" asserts the Sheik on the right. And the one on the left, pushes for a full history of the composer's life so that it can be "politically corrected."

The King is unusually curt with both his long time advisers, cutting off their wordy if genuinely held beliefs with a single chopping hand gesture. He straightens his crown, brushes down the folds of his robes, and bids them to follow him from the castle. The crowds of pack animals and country folk part quickly for them as they walk onto an open, dusty, tree-lined road beyond the castle. Evening has begun to settle along with all the dust as the King finally speaks:

"There! Listen! Do you hear it? The composer's music? It lives in the trees and wind and earth once again. See? It sparkles in the dust that stirs wherever we walk. And the people are playing and singing the music once more, everywhere. The composer's name? The history? Pah! This is the significance, and this the highest use. As living memory, coloring this sunset, these trees, this road. This beauty is all we need to know. And it comes to us freely. As freely as this handful of dust I hold out to you. Listen closely! You can hear the stars singing within it."


[story based on a dream of 4-15-15. This one had me up in the wee hours, drafting it. It's the one I mentioned yesterday in the comments to another dream about a King from the same night. Yesterday's source dream was "up close and personal." The source dream for today's writing was like a fable or fairy tale, and quite long compared to most of my dreams. Photomorph "The Music Goes On" (1-22-10 19123v8) 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.

* * * *

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; and TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

THE COVER UP (photomorph) & THE HEART OF THE KING (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THE HEART OF THE KING

the old subway train's
not that crowded as it pulls in
and I rush aboard,
headed to do all I know how
to help the ailing King

I get off the train
at the King's sunlit chamber,
and am relieved he's
so welcoming and alert,
even standing up, tall and straight

he shows me his wound,
or rather the pale stain on
his shirt above it
spread like a dried and crumpled
flower covering his heart

I quickly explain
hands-on-healing to him
as I cup my hand
gently over his hurting heart
to give it much needed Reiki *

he softly comments
on how tall I am, my head
reaching past his chin --
we stand companionably,
my fingers warming on his chest

how strange that I would ever
hold the heart of a King in my hand


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 4-15-15. * Reiki = a hands-on-healing method for which I actually have First Degree (i.e. hands on only; the Second and Third levels can work at a distance). If nothing else, I find Reiki -- self-administered or by someone else -- to be very comforting and calming. Back to dreams: I had another rather lengthy dream about a King last night before this one. I drafted a piece about that one when I woke in the wee hours and it's more like a fable or fairy tale. I'll probably post that one tomorrow. A King can have a variety of intense meanings in my personal dream vocabulary, in Jungian psychology, and in The Tarot deck as well. So, all I'll add is "Phew!" Photomorph "The Cover Up" (12-8-09 8549ev11) 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.

RELEASE (photomorph) & TIME TO GET ON WITH IT (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

TIME TO GET ON WITH IT

tonight they haunt me
usually they just tap me
on the shoulder
seeking awareness of their rise
like forgotten childhood friends

along with these constantly surfacing memories
an old song weaves throughout the night's dreams

"I've had the time of my life ... and I owe it all to you" *
raising a nod of surprise that, yes, I do owe a debt,

in ways I've not cared
to recognize much less own --
it seems everything
on this trip is worth its weight
if not in gold, in having lived it

a hair raising ride or an amble down a garden path,
a haunting or a basking in the sun, it's all the same

it's been a vibrant living -- time to get on with it


[two tanka, three two-liners, and a monoku on a dream of 4-14-15. *From lyrics to the song "The Time of My Life" by Barry Manilow, the song I was singing throughout the night's dreams. Photomorph "Release" (2-28-15 002v5) 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.

BUILDING INTO THE NIGHT (photomorph) & THE ONE ESSENCE (dream tanka series) by Roswila

THE ONE ESSENCE

the little round spirit's
lively but too intangible,
I look to a form
of dark angles and clever
and graspable artistry

yet this solidity
lacks something essential
yes, that's it: essence
almost shines out in its lack
from the form's building blocks

form after form
rises, littering the night
like abandoned cars
out of gas or broken down
on some desert thruway

the one essence wandering an ever present tickling


[tanka series capped by a monoku on a dream of 4-13-15. Photomorph "Building Into the Night" (4-8-15a 031v5d) 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.

WORLD EGG (photomorph) & THE CRUX (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THE CRUX

language becomes
the crux of our discussion,
as the name we like
for our on-going group's been
nixed by the powers that be

yet some don't even
recall we'd chosen a name
verboten or not,
and for some it's a non-issue
(words words words who cares)

a new translation
of a freedom fighter song
scrolls across a wall
briefly uniting all members
as we sing carefully along

but who knows about
understanding -- is it the same
for each perceiver?
are we all held in the same
close grip of comprehension?

or are we each in a world separate unto itself,
spinning on its own axis and singing its own song


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 4-12-15. Photomorph "World Egg" (8-5-09 5006v7a) 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.

FALLING APART (photomorph) & BENEATH (dream tanka series) by Roswila

BENEATH

the psychologist
reminds me vaguely of one
from long ago
one I'd ultimately felt
completely let down by

yet I go ahead
and ask her to check me out
for depression
I want a professional's view
in case I've missed symptoms

while she answers
my stomach jumps nervously
just what do I want?
sigh, the same thing I always
deny beneath asking an opinion,

beneath the mistrust
I hide from myself:
just acknowledge me,
better yet, sense my deeper need
and give me your approval

leave diagnosis
to some other time, even
though I've asked for it
the protective cloak of denial
is the more disabling disease


[tanka series on a dream of 4-11-15. This dream/poem was in response to a question I asked of my dream world as I fell asleep. In addition to other things I won't go into here, it helped me understand a particular sort of miscommunication I can sometimes get myself into. But have never fully understood. Photomorph "Falling Apart" (6-12-09 2147v5) 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.