UNTENDED (photomorph) & LOOKING FOR HOME (about a dream) by Roswila

LOOKING FOR HOME

the tiny dark bird,
though vaguely iridescent
when the setting sun
hits just the right curve
at just the right angle,
is no hummingbird but more
like one of a caged bird species,
maybe a parakeet but too slim and small

my acquaintance keeps letting
it leave the security of his hand,
launching it right off his extended forefinger,
to fly away into the branches of the small tree
we stand next to that could be a twin
to Charlie Brown's Christmas tree
before its transformation

on each flight away from us
the bird flutters and bumbles a bit further
through the nearly bare branches
as I get more and more concerned,
this drought ridden and untended garden
is no kind of home
for a bird raised in a cage

my acquaintance turns to me
noting softly that who are we
to say where its home may be,
that just this yearning to go home
is a home in itself

and he gently launches the bird again
this time higher, toward the setting sun

* * * * * *

[written on a dream of 12-18-15. I was "singing" these lyrics on and off during the dream, and woke up singing them:

I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents 'neath the tree

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

Photomorph "Untended" (11-27-15 007v6a) 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; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

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.

* * * *

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.

THROUGH ROSE COLORED GLASSES (photomorph) & SIDE TRIP (dream narrative) by Roswila]

SIDE TRIP

that long ago friend and I sit in a corner
of the supermarket talking about who knows what:
food? the shoppers pushing their full carts?
(certainly not our hopes and fears, that would be
too intimate for her, at least as I recall)

I begin to get quite hungry and that needs to be
attended to or I'll wind up bingeing later,
so I say good-bye and head for the nearest door
to go home, where I have healthier food to eat
than lines the shelves of this over-stuffed market

several male store workers crowd around a door
onto a side alley gossiping, I squeeze by,
careful not even to brush them, but to no avail,
just my passing presence annoys one of them,
who shoves me in the shoulder
as if I were some great affront to him

I push back lightly telling him not to touch me,
he shoves me again, I yell, don't touch me!
this time he takes me by both shoulders and uses
his full body length to press me against a wall

well, I'm fit to be tied and yell even louder over
his shoulder toward the customers and workers
standing around making believe they don't see
or hear me: This.Man.Won't.Stop.Touching.Me!!

that they can't ignore, heads begin to turn,
and the man backs away from me, shaking
off his hands as if he'd touched something
repellant stuck to the bottom of his shoe

do I care? let him try to save face,
I just want to get past this necessary
but deeply agitating side trip
without being further molested


[narrative on a dream of 12-15-15. Photomorph "Through Rose Colored Glasses" (9-5-13 005v7) 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; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

SECRET SELF OF THE ROSE (photomorph) & A ROSE (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

A ROSE

"a rose is a rose is a rose ..."
well, not quite

each recognizably so, it's true,
yet each invites us to witness
a uniquely shaped spiral of color,
a novel path of light and shadow

if roses fill and brighten the space
above a vase for a brief time,
or peer out season after season
en masse from a bush,
it's still the differences
between each bloom that make
a rose
a rose


[non-dream free verse poem written 12-15-15. Lots of info about the famous Gertrude Stein quote: a rose is a rose is a rose. I make no claim myself to understanding the author's intent. Only that this poem is my reading of and response to it. Photo "Secret Self of the Rose" (4-3-14 016v11) 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; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

REFLECTIONS IN A DROWNING EYE (photomorph) & PICTURE THIS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

PICTURE THIS

the black and white photo exhibit
hangs in the air before me,
inviting our appreciative perusal or,
rather, from the other's tone of voice
and attitude, my careful attention
to his unsolicited and detailed teaching:

see how the shallow depth of field
creates a very effective shadow box
of the spaces? and how backlighting
in this one actually brings the foreground
into focus? oh! and how the silhouetted
pose of the central figure in this one
asks a viewer to hold his breath, too?
(and, sotto voce) but they're
all a bit dated, can you see?

I had observed all of these effects
and more, and agree only in part,
so simply nod and move to the next
picture, noting to myself that I like
the 1950's air about them, nicely
achieved by lighting, texture,
and choice of subject, there being
nothing wrong with retro

then the "teacher" starts setting up
an ultra chic scene he will shoot
of a young man drinking alone
at a large, highly reflective
chrome and glass table

the young man sees me watching,
tilts his glass, and offers me a drink
from the scene's bottle, I accept and,
phew! is it strong stuff! or maybe
I've just forgotten after all these years
how whiskey burns

his smile doesn't quite make it to his eyes
as I try to minimize my intense coughing

well, I made the choice to drink,
and clearly some things are still
too much for me to swallow


[free verse poem on a dream of 12-14-15. Photomorph "Reflections In A Drowning Eye" (4-3-14 016v4g) 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; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

ANOTHER FINE MESS (photomorph) & THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS

oops! (embarrassing)
as my roommate vacuums
she comes up against
a massively dusty recess
in the wall of our long hall

I take the machine
from her and start working
at the piled up mess
sheesh! will I find ancient fossil
remains in these layers of dust?

well, I guess this is what happens when things
build up, unaddressed as they go down


[two tanka and a two-liner on a dream of 12-10-15. Photomorph "Another Fine Mess" (5-25-09 1726v11) 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; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

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.

* * * *

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.