GREEN GROTTO (photomorph) & THE GREENING GRAVE (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

THE GREENING GRAVE

oh, drag me, drag me, if you must
by my long white braid
but make me stand
by music's greening grave
in that meadow of long ago

for there across the cold blue sea
sleeps a lifetime of lyric memories
waiting only for a voice
to spread their songs

oh, drag me, drag me, if you must
by my long white braid
but make me stand
by music's greening grave
in that meadow of long ago

I'll fuss and fight but don't let go
until I face the music I must sing
that crowds the heart of that ancient
shimmering meadow

oh, drag me, drag me, if you must
by my long white braid
but make me stand
by music's greening grave
in that meadow of long ago


[non-dream free verse poem written 2-19-16. This was inspired -- nay, impelled -- by a folk music performance I saw last night (UCSB Folk Ensemble). I have felt a strong tug for some time now to express myself musically more than I have been (both in words and voice). I was frequently asked in my earliest years of writing if I wrote songs due to my style back then. And I tend not to sing now (which I did rather readily back then) unless in a sing along group, given the top to my soprano has flown with the years. (Though I do a lot of singing to myself. I'm much braver then, as I can mess around to find the pitch that will let me make the high notes. Smile.) I have over the years written a couple of chants. There's also a repeated refrain in a long poem of mine that I developed a tune for. That I do sing when I read the poem in one of our Talent Shows, as I do the chants. But these have always felt like just a minuscule portion of the music inside. I hasten to add, however, that the music in "The Greening Grave" is for me even more than actual music a many layered metaphor, with echoes all the way through the physical, to the psychological, to the interpersonal, to family history, to the spiritual. Phew! What a lot stands behind this little piece of doggerel verse. Oh, and I should add that I can feel a tune turning around inside for the repeated refrain in "The Greening Grave." Photomorph "Green Grotto" (12-8-15 002v3h) 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 other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

TREE OF JOY (photomorph) & A CHANGE OF HEART (non-dream science fiction haibun) by Roswila

A CHANGE OF HEART*

We are happily drinking the rising light when the foreign thing crashes through us, scattering poisonous shadows. Our ancestral stories speak of such things: solids, carrying even stranger solids – living things who breathe in either light or shadow:

filling in
the wound of passage:
light heals all

We are briefly shocked – a rare feeling indeed – when a small solid separates from the larger solid. Although this little solid does not allow light to travel through, its surface carries light as it hovers quietly, bobbing:

oh, this “I”
is so lonely!
darkness looms

We return to feeding on the joyous light, disturbed as the small solid’s feelings of separateness spread rapidly among us. They are so dense, these feelings. Will they block the light? Then it leaps:

the solid enters
our tumbling joy:
shadows burn away

The little solid spins madly, radiating fear. But what can it possibly be afraid of here? We are in joy, feeding together, singing to and through each other. This is the state we endlessly create, in spite of returning shadows, in spite of the dark’s cold fingers:

the solid’s fear
chills us:
joy is fleeting

We have no concept for this return of our songs from the outside of the solid in our midst, mixed with its fading fear. We have only “through” and “toward and “with” for singing. But trailing our songs returned by the solid comes a new conception:

we are atremble
with this discovery:
this cry, this “echo”

And, oh, the small solid’s song of fear vibrates on to a new level, thrilling through us with our mutual delight at new understandings:

the solid knows!
the giving
is the song

Our old heart bursts, the eons of memories it holds for us diffused easily into our nearest nascent heart. We trill our old heart’s death joy:

hearts change
the songs
go on forever


[*a science fiction haibun (prose paragraphs followed by haiku, in this case, scifaiku), that I wrote in 2001 from the imagined point of view of some other planet's life form. (BTW, the scifaiku form is a science fiction, fantasy, horror, or cosmologically themed offshoot of haiku.) "A Change of Heart" has been posted here a couple of times before, the most recently 4 years ago, so I figure another posting today might be OK. In any case, I really need to hear its "song" right now. Photomorph "Tree of Joy" (4-21-15 004v8) 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 other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

AFTER THE VISIT (photo) & "oy! no padding left..." (non-dream senryu) by Roswila

oy! no padding left
since losing all that weight
hard plastic lawn chair


[non dream senryu written 2-14-16. Photo "After the Visit" (8-18-12 12109e) 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 other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

LEAD FEET (photomorph) & WOBBLING (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

WOBBLING

weighty dreams last night, all of them
(well, those I recall, there were more
and maybe I should be glad
they didn't stick in memory):

first, a heavy crock pot on my head
(I don't want to deal with food issues,
not again! you should pardon the pun
but this issue is getting stale)

then that miserable neighbor
who expects (and always gets)
a visit from me (I've gotten it into
my head that I must be nice)
and her even more miserable
little dog that I'm (more huge
expectations piled on) supposed
not only to like but (get this)
clean up after and retrieve
when it gets outdoors!

and last (grateful it's last, at least),
that stupid man, lugging a mattress
down the stairs, not bothering
to look where's he's going
(would he even recognize it
if he saw it?) and not even
stopping when I yell to get his
attention so we won't collide
(as we do) while I struggle up the stairs,
and he can clearly hear since he's
oh so quick to deny he did anything
wrong which means his boss
dumps the blame on me ...

the cumulative weight of the night's
dreams just like that old mattress
wobbling on my head


[free verse poem on dreams of 2-16-16. Photomorph "Lead Feet" (10-5-09 7369v12e) 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 other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

THE BAIT (photomorph) & WHAT'S MISSING (dream writing) by Roswila

WHAT'S MISSING

say what!? just how
am I to understand
this dream scene:

a bipedal bunny, human-size and dressed
in a shocking pink vest with a dangling
watch fob, seems to believe its an overseer
here, clutching a clipboard and taking notes
as it closely observes all that goes on

and that background music (if it can even
be called music) is the theme of the T.V.
show "Shark Tank," mixed with the ominous
thumping beats from the movie "Jaws"

yeah, I can wring all sorts of associations
from each of these images (for starters,
"I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date..."
or how some would say we're all nothing
but shark bait, or even torture a warning from
the juxtaposition of a self-important bunny
and sharks: Don't Trust Appearances)
but what stands out sharply enough
to fully wake me and prompt
a drafting of this piece?

maybe what's most conveyed is what's
missing: laughter at yet more of life's
absurd contradictions


[written on a dream of 2-15-16. Photomorph "The Bait" (8-16-09 5606ev3) 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 other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

SIDEWINDERS (photomorph) & WHAT HAPPENED (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

WHAT HAPPENED

the winter wind whistles
and moans down through
the mountain canyons

he says when it stops, then
we'll be able to hear ourselves
think clearly enough to talk
about what happened

but his words echo as sadly
hollow as the wind
through Skull Rock
in that western movie
I saw as a child right after
Mama died,

that image that gave my grief
and emptiness the only
expression it found
in a vast desert


[free verse poem on a dream of 2-14-16. Photomorph "Sidewinders" (10-29-09 7924v6) by Roswila; best viewed in larger version because of detail, click on image if you're interested]

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 other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.

IMPRISONED MOON (photomorph) & RUNAWAY HORSE (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

RUNAWAY HORSE

the mind's such a fearful horse to ride,
taking the bit in its teeth at any shifting
shadow in the corner of an eye
or suggestive shape looming ahead
that simply must be a ghost
or worse yet, something real,
all egged on by memories
crowded like burrs under the saddle
(certainly they must've happened
and just that way) of whippings
and starvings for tripping over
or somehow offending
even the least of these
demanding phantoms


[free verse poem written 2-14-16; not directly on a dream. However, a poem I have in draft form from last night's dreams wound up with a conscious association to that mind with the bit in its teeth image. An image I've used a couple of times recently because it keeps floating up, and is all too fitting for me right now. Photomorph "Imprisoned Moon" (8-18-09 5770ev7c) 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 other blogs: ROSWILA'S TAROT GALLERY & JOURNAL; ROSWILA'S TAIGA TAROT; TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT; and THE MARKER TAROT.