THE QUEST FOR BALI HAI (photo) & THREE SEEKERS (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THREE SEEKERS

oy, he's gone and cheated
on his wife again, as his good friend
I don't rationalize
his behavior, but I do understand
the compelling urge to cheat

then the young man decides
to learn how to dance instead
to keep himself engaged
so he won't cheat again, for one more time
and he's sure he'll lose his wife for good

and he actually
becomes quite proficient
at dancing around
with precision and flare, but for
one move he just can't seem to get

he begins reading
through a large tech manual
on the new dance form,
with me reading curiously
over his work-shirted shoulder

a man more my age,
old enough to be this newbie dancer's
father, watches us
with an amused interest, then
joins us in reading the manual

it's quite obvious
he understands this sort of writing
much better than we,
but even he gets stuck when
it's clear some info's been left out

I believe I can
still figure it out, but only
find proportionate
numbers, not the exact figures for
actual distances between moves

I lean in closer to this older man whose
aura of patient world weariness draws me

I wish I could have impressed him by finding the info
we needed, but he doesn't seem to be concerned with it

his focus is already somewhere else
and it's not on the manual, nor me,

nor even the here and now: the dark at the center of
his gray eyes looks to an horizon I wish he'd not seek


[tanka series with several two-liners on a dream of 11-5-16. BTW, as I wrote this it became clear that the two men are different aspects of the same man. Then, of course, there's the other way of viewing all three characters as aspects of myself. However, it's the first view that's most helpful to me right now. Ultimately sad, but helpful. Photo "The Quest for Bali Hai" (11-4-16 025v2) 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), 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.