TOP HEAVY (photomorph) & AVOIRDUPOIS (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

AVOIRDUPOIS*

the auto's owner
approaches just as I
stop improvising
a song on the prongs lining
the back seat of his car

I could not resist,
I say, the tines look so much like
a large kalimba**

but this attractive
older man I've not seen before
seems more concerned
with how I look than with why I'd
been leaning into his car window

and though he says nada,
he's clearly noticed my weight and
judged it heavily;
I decide not to let this slide
and speak up, albeit gently:

you know, my avoirdupois is not what it seems,
it's actually a long, very complicated pregnancy

and even if it's never born, I will continue to bear
this child of my passion for life with great gratitude


[three tanka, one dreamku, & two 2-liners on a dream of 8-12-16. *French for weighty, or heavy. **Kalimba, a/k/a mbira or thumb piano; musical instrument that's African in origin; played by plucking prongs with one's thumbs; I've just recently started playing mine again. Photomorph "Top Heavy" (6-30-16 012v2a) 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 blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

THE NIGHT DOWNLOADS (photo) & ALPHABET SOUP (dream based prose poem) by Roswila

ALPHABET SOUP

the computer up-date CDs arrive just in time
for the finalizing of the agreement

the two sides to the contract gather
at a large conference table,
though I'm still a bit uncertain
about this deal ... well, not so much
the deal itself (all does seem in order)
but rather about the mobster-like men
we'll be committing to work with

as I'm nursing my doubt, the handsome
but vaguely untrustworthy boss
of the mobster-like bunch
demands the signing stamp
which now cannot be located

someone points out that the stamp is in
the stack of yet to be loaded up-dates,
on the CD labeled "H"

I think how fabulous that the up-grade
comes in so many sections, then one
can simply not load any CD with
a change on it one does not want

but, sigh, what else might be on a CD
with one undesirable change, and how
might it fit in with and complete
the others that sit on the table,
each labeled with a letter but out of order,
like an alphabet soup awaiting
use to make sense of it

maybe there's no way around accepting
the risks involved in committing to change


[prose poem (or narrative?) on a dream of 8-11-16. Photomorph "The Night Downloads" (7-24-16 004v3a) 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 blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

PALMING THE NIGHT (photomorph) & BRINGING IT HOME (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

BRINGING IT HOME

as she leaves the office
holding her potted palm seedling
close to her chest, she turns around
and sees her many exiting co-workers
carrying their tender plants in the same
protective fashion

she'd been told, but hadn't quite
believed, that others, too, do not
leave their fledgling fronds
in the office over the weekends
to dry out and possibly die
from inattention, but that they,
also, carry their unique, slowly
unfurling palms,
cradled carefully
against the knocks and random
assaults of the trip, to their homes
where they can be lovingly
looked after


[free verse poem on a dream of 8-10-16. I'd not have given a plug nickel that I'd have such a positive, loving dream after the painful emotional tone of my day. So this dream was quite a gift. BTW, the title is an example of how a name can nail the point of a poem/dream home (without also revealing too much, too soon). At least it did when it occurred to me. Photomorph "Palming the Night" (8-10-16 014v2a) 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 blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

PREPARING TO TAKE OFF (photo) & FIVE TRIPS/ONE MORNING (dream narrative) by Roswila

FIVE TRIPS/ONE MORNING

Dream One

there's no way I can hang on to the nearly vertical
wet sand wall above the ocean beach, nor when
I land can I stay dry, no matter how feverishly I try
not to get dunked like everyone else at this edge,
even as I keep on yelling for that man I know
whom I spotted when I was falling who's just down
this beach to my left, though what he can do I haven't
a clue, noting as I yell his name that gets ripped away
by the wind, that no one else seems to mind
being sandy and soaked at all


Dream Two

dripping wet sand I enter a huge beach house
as if I belong there, aware the couple I'm trailing
into it live here and that they are graciously
letting me follow along; the woman asks me
what happened to my flotation tube, I say
that it was taken from me (knowing I'd given
it away), she asks her husband if he's found one
for me yet; as we wait, I comment on
the intricate layout of the house's
many rooms and levels


Dream Three

as we decorate the walls of a small office
room, we have a lengthy discussion on which
way to hang one large, heavy, artsy object;
I finally discover a part of the picture on it
(a small child sitting outside a beach house)
that reveals the true orientation for the object;
but they hang it horizontally anyway; a dark
haired, middle aged male executive
with a rep as somewhat dishonest and maybe
dangerous, if brilliant and attractive, has been
watching me closely, as he's made it clear
some time ago he desires me; for some
reason I'm not uncomfortable with this


Dream Four

a woman I'd had a hassle with seems to have finally
forgiven me and leads me to the sunny boardwalk to sit
and maybe have a soda; I can't get the door onto
the boardwalk to shut again behind me,
no matter how hard I slam it; a tall dark man,
costumed like an eerie bird, reaches from the other
shadowy side as I start to slam the door again,
mumbles something in a vaguely friendly way,
and slowly and quietly
shuts the door in front of him


Dream Five

a slip of an old gal with whom I have a checkered
but now peaceful relationship orders
me softly to sit in a chair next to her
on the warming boardwalk, then leaves to bring
that dark executive who likes me to join us, after
making it clear I should hook up with him

before he arrives I find I actually agree with her;
he may not be whom I've been mooning over
and have a questionable rep to boot,
but I'd have what I've been so painfully missing:
a man to hold and caress and care about
who'll do the same for me
and more

maybe it's time to let go
of my proud and stringent independence,
get in the swim, and let life take care of me


[narrative on five dreams of 8-9-16. Photo "Preparing to Take Off" (8-10-16 015v2a) 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 blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

BESTOWAL (photo) & A QUESTION OF CHOCOLATE (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

A QUESTION OF CHOCOLATE

his four year old eyes
remind me of the chocolate chips
in the cookies
I dreamed about last night,
an image that on rising, I took
to all sorts of unhappy places,
and then I find those bits of sweet dark
I cannot have right here,
in a stranger's boy,
who fills our ocean side encounter
with bright question
after question,
and happily answers my own,
weaving stories out of all we say,
and then, out of nowhere, proclaiming
'"I love chocolate ... in cookies!"


[non-dream free verse poem written 8-9-16. This boy who came up to me as I was sitting looking at the ocean, was named Jacob, the most common meaning for which is "to supplant." And in the Bible, Jacob was founder of the 12 tribes of Israel. I related to this experience as I would a dream and found it quite something. And though I just tried typing out the significance of these two things to me, I have to go into way too much to do it any justice here. Suffice it to say, my clinging to mourning for a favorite addictive substance (chocolate/sugar) was totally supplanted by this darling child. (He even called to me from a distance after he and his family had explored the beach, to be sure to wave good-bye.) Photo "Bestowal" (11-29-09 83913v6) 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 blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

THE ASSAULT (photomorph) & THE LAST OPENING UP (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

THE LAST OPENING UP

an old Cat Steven's song says:
the first cut is the deepest

but after a lifetime of deep slices,
near misses, and nicks
I disagree

this one, that may very well be
the last opening up
my old heart has left in it,
is the deepest

even the protecting ribs
receive long scratches
and wobble woefully
at each repeated cut
that like a sad heart beat
repeats the reality:

it never was
it never will be


[non-dream free verse poem written 8-8-16. Photomorph "The Assault" (11-29-09 8391v8a) 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 blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.

MELTING (photo) & THE CHALLENGE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE CHALLENGE

you quickly whisper
into my ear, giving me chills,
that our son's name is Fred*
(how can we have a son
when we've never even
hooked up?)

then you challenge me to a race
to the finish (how can we race
when all we ever do is pass
like ships in the night?)
as you unzip your pants

and at last, that urgent rushing
I've longed for, flying wild
and hot off the griddle
in a sizzle,

only to be doused
by the advent
of another lonely morning


[free verse poem based on a dream of 8-6-16. *"Frederick is a masculine given name meaning 'peaceful ruler.' It is the English form of the Germanic name Friedrich. Its meaning is derived from the Germanic word elements frid, or peace, and ric, meaning 'ruler' or 'power.'" (source: Wikipedia) Well, that impossible son that showed up in a previous dream now has a name. And his name is very interesting, given that for some time I've felt that the eventual outcome of some turbulent stuff I've been going through will be (though right now it feels like it will never change) surprisingly positive, healing even. There's more about this name and another male name I recently dreamed (Dominic), but it's too much to go into here. Photo "Melting" (11-29-09 8405ev2) 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 blog (dedicated to her photos only, i.e. no poetry or other writing; daily post); TRYING TO HOLD A BOX OF LIGHT.