NIGHT SKY (photomorph) & AN OLDER LAW (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

AN OLDER LAW

she believes her penthouse suite
to be impregnable, not even
the swat team snipers have been able
to pin her as she enjoys
the night sky from its main balcony

let them keep trying to take her down
for the crimes she's committed,
they'll fail, she declares to her husband
as she turns to face him and into
his embrace

over her head he sees two female
bounty hunters get off
the distant elevator and look
carefully around, guns drawn

his first urge is not to say anything
as he knows full well how guilty
she is in the eyes of the law
and let her be caught at last

but some higher, older law prompts
the opening of his mouth
and he whispers to her
of the stealthily approaching pair,
staying faithful to his wedding
vow to put no one before her

this will not have a happy ending,
he thinks, as she spins rapidly
out of his arms on high alert,
but at least he's been
as good as his word


[free verse poem on a dream of 6-26-15. This might be better called a "poetically licensed" narrative. Quite honestly, I'm getting tired of trying to determine the appropriate label for whatever way in which I couch a dream piece. What does it ultimately matter? I work equally hard on every piece, bringing whatever writing craft I've learned to date to the effort. I think that this labeling issue boils down to wanting not to be wrong in some reader's eyes about my choice of terminology. Sigh, the works themselves, without any labels, are already more or less questionable by academic standards. I have no illusions about that. (Can you tell? It's stacking up to be a cranky day.) As to this dream/poem itself? Very simply put -- and laying aside at least one other distinct level -- I'm seeing it mostly as a look at the issue of fidelity in relationships. And whether it's earned by the other's "good" behavior or comes from some deeper place inside one's self. Photomorph "Night Sky" (4-4-13 12413v10a) 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.

CROSSING THE LINES (photomorph) & A NIGHT AT THE RACES (mixed format dream poem)

A NIGHT AT THE RACES

the silver rider
and her dark male biker friend
race neck and neck
at the front, far distant
from the rest of the pack

it matters little
which of this motorbike pair
hits the finish first
as a win by one of them
counts as a win by both

but from the cheap seats
I root for the silver lady
on her flashing bike
a pride in womanhood rising
from some long ago place

a third vague rider
joins the pair out of the pack
that trails behind them,
it seems like eons as the lead passes
back and forth between the three of them

I jump to my feet
when the silver rider noses
the red finish line
but I don't get to rest on her laurels
as the dream races on into another

and no thrilling wins in this new scenario
just grunt work, pulling up ragged old carpeting


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 6-25-15. Photomorph "Crossing the Lines" (4-10-13 12431v5e) 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.

IN THE EYE OF THE SUN (photo) & THREE ON A SUNNY DAY (3 non-dream 'kus) by Roswila

THREE ON A SUNNY DAY

flower video --
outside our window blue sky
and orange callas

* * * * * * * *

SPF50 sock it to me summer sun

* * * * * * * *

drought or old age
still, the gold in the palm fronds
like gilding on lilies

* * * * * * * *

[two non-dream based haiku and a monoku, written 6-25-15. Yep, fresh out of the little notepad that goes everywhere with me. Probably should let them settle in a bit before posting them. I know how often I see tweaks that need to be made once my writing cools. I'm especially wondering how I'll feel about that simile in the last 'ku. They're rare in haiku tradition. But it was such a lovely day and even lovelier overall experience that I'm running on high octane enthusiasm. Could also have to do with having taken an exercise class before sitting in the sun (yuh think?). Photo "In the Eye of the Sun" (4-29-12 11816v2a), and for anyone who also visits my photo blog, yes, this is a somewhat different version of the pic I posted there yesterday.]

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 COCOON OF NIGHT (photomorph) & ON BABIES & BEDFELLOWS (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

ON BABIES & BEDFELLOWS

another baby!
Observer Eye silently
declares, then sighs --
this time, though, it's not clear
what this infant is about

has something new come
into this all too familiar show
needing nurturing
or has an immaturity
taken center stage again

it's only sure that mother and child are in hiding
in need of protection from threatening stalkers

the mother turns over in a strange bed to find
her good male friend is right along side her

relief swaddles her in warm layers
they'll face the long night together


[two tanka with three two-liners of a dream of 6-23-15. I don't recall if I've noted here that I use the term "Observer Eye" to reference when that watching aspect of myself is not only present in a dream but also thinking about the dream. Occasionally even aware it is a dream, though Observer Eye wasn't lucid in this one. (BTW, some time back I was calling it "Observer I.") Photomorph "The Cocoon of Night" (4-29-12 11819ev6) 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.

RING-AROUND-THE-ROSY (photo) & THE QUICK AND THE DEADLY DEAD (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE QUICK AND THE DEADLY DEAD

just because you first saw her laid out,
a chilling naked mound on a mortician's table,
don't be fooled
this beautiful dark young woman's
really a quick, expert assassin

you'd best stay out of her way altogether
but if you can't, at least don't make yourself a target

and, yes, it's sad to know that that new born
baby boy's brain has a genetic anomaly
(he's not ever going to have
a normal memory, you know)
but watch him! he's already talking
and playing ring-around-the-rosy*
with his toddler sister

and the baby's mother? well, here's
a photo of her only days before giving birth,
her belly button pulsing with each
of their heart beats

it's been said she's the source
of the gene that makes memory
an all too living presence


[free verse poem on a dream of 6-22-15. *I did not hear this rhyme in the dream. I just knew that that's what they were playing. And the words to that children's game: ring around the rosy / pocket full of posies / ashes ashes / we all fall down, also speak to this dream. Photo "Ring-Around-The-Rosy" (4-10-13 12439c) 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.

MASK (photo) & A COHESIVE REALITY (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

A COHESIVE REALITY

the last song to hit the turntable's
that old one "The Party's Over,"
and I begin shedding my space alien costume

it's fitted like a wet suit, with a face and head
mask resembling a fantastical crested bird

the entire costume's in one piece
and had to be put on with glue
in order to maintain the impression
of cohesive reality as I move

yet the peeling off process goes easily
as I work gradually upward from my feet

however when I reach the neck it won't budge
though I pull at it to the point of pain

and I'd been breathing fine up 'til now
through the glued on face and head mask,
but begin gasping for breath

I fear I'm now neither fish nor fowl,
forever an alien head on a human body

a friend approaches extending a hand
toward me in obvious sympathy
as she murmurs "It hurts to take off
the mask, doesn't it"


[free verse poem on a dream of 6-20-15. Photo "Mask" (10-6-10 10033v5) 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.

CASTOR & POLLUX (photo) & TWO GEORGES (mixed format dream poem) by Roswilla

TWO GEORGES

faced with two Georges:
in the background nearly hidden
by a wood bookcase
the ordinary, well-meaning one,
who's slow but a hard worker

in the foreground
almost outshining himself
with his grand good looks
and impressive airs, the actor
entertaining all possibilities

one might well think "never the twain shall meet"
yet they hold this moment together as surely as glue

for no yin without its yang
no light without its dark

and these two Georges
make the action well worth the price
of participation:
stepping up, opening your eyes,
and paying close attention


[three tanka with two two-liners on a dream of 6-16-15. Photo "Castor & Pollux" 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.