AT THE EDGE ... (photo) & THE BEATING HEART (on a dream) by Roswila

THE BEATING HEART

another long hallway! she thinks,
as memories rise of other dreams of walls
close on either side as she walks and walks,
some halls with pictures, others paneled
only with shiny dark wood, and yet others
like this one lined with room doors

odd, though, this hallway has doorways
on only one side, the left, into which
she peers briefly as she passes, and all have
a man embedded -- if you'll pardon that pun,
though it may actually speak the truth --
alone in a silent, deep sleep

in the first she sees a dying man
who's gracefully accepted his fate,
a slight smile almost glowing
on his still handsome face, this is a room
to return to, she thinks, there's such
a radiance here, and maybe he'd welcome
a Reiki treatment once awake

in the next, a seriously ill man, looking
strained and awkward with pillows
plumped in such a way as to hold
his neck at what must be a poor angle,
but somehow she knows he'll recover
from both the strain and the illness,
and given the cards and flowers
around his bed he doesn't lack for friends

the last of many more rooms she peers into
holds the only waking man she's seen:
a celebrity she's never been all that
fond of, neither did she like the famous
character he played many years ago
on T.V., but here he seems warm and
approachable, maybe it's his inability
now to walk that's humanized him

they wind up hugging, his chest bare
and sun-tanned, her cheek and hands
feeling its warmth and the beat
of his heart, as she rests next to him
on his bed listening to his determination
to get up on his own two legs and walk

should she point out what she knows
he's all too aware of: he cannot do this,
and may never be able to walk again,
or should she simply go on listening
to the comforting and insistent
beating of his heart


[on a dream of 3-26-16. Not sure I can explain this so I'll simply say there is something Easter like about this dream. Speaking of which, Happy Easter! Photo "At the Edge..." (3-12-16 009v2) 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 other blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.