IN THE ROUGH (photomorph) & THE RIDE (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THE RIDE

yeah, I realize
you didn't plan for it to be
such a rough ride
but I'm having a hard time
holding on to equanimity

it's no small challenge to enjoy the roadside scenery
with all the Under Construction signs in the way

and the many sudden detours, and changing exits
make it more like a carnival ride gone berserk

not to mention the constant background noise
like itching powder beneath my skin

so, yeah, I recognize you didn't want it to be this way
but it's still the roughest ride on which I've ever gone


[a tanka with four two-liners on a dream of 11-4-16. Photomorph "In the Rough" (10-15-16 020v4b) 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.

* * * *

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 DAWN SPEAKS OUT (photomorph) & THE MULTITUDE (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THE MULTITUDE

there's a multitude
of layers, dark and impossible to read
and they're stacked high,
tightly slotted into each other,
an odd sort of layer cake

I bring colored lights
to this desk top sized tower
hoping to brighten
it up, at least at some levels,
so it can be better related to

the first light I try,
a soft yellow, like sunshine
through autumn leaves,
does clarify a wee bit what one
level's about, but not in a new way

just the same old, same old: a difficult woman out of my past,
who's pulled quickly back into darkness by surrounding layers

even a rainbow of light has no effect, the black* tower
absorbing each color as it lands and spreads softly

(is this proof of the esoteric belief that black holds
the possibility of all light? put my way: black's a thief)

maybe there's no understanding this towering dark,
no inducing a premature dawn, not even this gently

* * * *

[three tanka and four two-liners on a dream of 11-2-16. *A psychological take on the color black. Photomorph "The Dawn Speaks Out" (10-4-14 010v2e) 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.

* * * *

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.

SEEKING COMPANY (photo) & STROLLING WITH A STAR TREK CAPTAIN (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

STROLLING WITH A STAR TREK CAPTAIN

I can't believe it! I'm actually strolling
with Scott Bakula,* one of my favorite
Star Trek captains, I think,
and quickly tell him so, doing my best
to keep up with his healthy stride

well then, I comment abashedly
to myself, I must admit I thought
nobody'd ever beat out Shatner
or Stewart,** but now that I've met
Scott in person, his incredible physical
presence has rocketed him in one
hot flash to the top of my Trek
Captain's List

when we sit next to each other for a rest
(probably to accommodate me, I think,
wishing this were not true, that I were
young and hale and hearty again)
I lean in close to chat and watch
the silent dawning of his awareness
of my attraction to him turn sad
as he backs away minutely,
omigosh! I recall to myself,
I'd forgotten he's married and I, too,
make a subtle withdrawal

no, no more unavailable men for me!
no more circling a man at a remove,
caught like a small planet in a sun's
massive gravitational pull,
the distance between
as cold and empty
as outer space


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-1-17. *Captain Jonathan Archer on the old Star Trek T.V. series. **William Shatner and Patrick Stewart also played Captain's on Star Trek, of which I was a great fan. I've posted many Shatner (Captain James Tiberius Kirk) dream haiku here over the years. BTW, marriage here is a metaphor for the many ways a man can be "unavailable." I also think it rather telling that a couple days ago I posted a dream poem ("The Big Chew," 11-1-16) about being in an abusive relationship. As if those have been my alternatives: accept/rationalize abuse, or have nothing. There's much more to this, but I'll leave it at that. Photo "Seeking Company" (10-30-16 010v2a) 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.

* * * *

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.

HIDE & SEEK (photo) & CHANNELING THE ISLANDS (non-dream haiku, & free verse poem) by Roswila

CHANNELING THE ISLANDS

the clouds hover low
over the distant islands
protection or threat

* * * *

and so it goes on each approach: the closer
I come to the beach overlook, enjoying
the view of the islands rising high
in the distance, the farther away
they seem; 'til as close as I can
get, from behind the doubled
fence of wood and chain link
at cliff's edge, they waver,
stretched faint and low
across the far edge
of an enticing sea,
like Bali Hai*


[non dream haiku written 10-29-16, and a non-dream free verse poem written 11-2-16. Both of these were inspired by the Channel Islands as seen from the beach overlook park I frequently walk to, and of which this photo, "Hide & Seek" (10-30-16 003v3) was taken a couple days ago. *Bali Hai. Poems and photo 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.

* * * *

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.

GET THE POINT YET? (photomorph) & THE BIG CHEW (dream narrative) by Roswila

THE BIG CHEW

my male companion
orders me again not to go off
and meet an urgent need of mine
but, also again, I read him as joking
... well, serious but not in a mean way,
more like he's still not very good
at making requests

as I hurry off anyway to take care
of myself, a woman friend comes
with me, clearly aghast at what she
calls the man's abuse and expressing
her concern for my ultimate well-being
if I continue to relate to him

she waits as I chew on a big realization:
has he been abusive all along and have I
been excusing him? my stomach flips
in that sudden sharp way it has: how much
else have I rationalized because I craved
company and attention?


[narrative on a dream of 10-31-16. Yeah, a nightmarish dream (though it was not an actual nightmare, I rarely have them) for Halloween night. And just in case the dream doesn't make it's point clear enough as written, the man in it was Bill Cosby. Photomorph "Get the Point Yet?" (10-20-16 020v3) 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.

* * * *

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.

SIGNALING THE OUTER PLANETS (photomorph) & RE-POST OF A HALLOWEEN SCIFAIKU SERIES (non-dream scifaiku) by Roswila

RE-POST OF A HALLOWEEN SCIFAIKU* SERIES

ghosts roar out
of the mercury waves
beached on old earth

* * * *

this new world’s fire
refuses to burn witches
kindred spirits

* * * *

bog fires
the fleshless bones of dancers
mark their own rhythms

* * * *

line of ghouls – Fresh Death Sale!

* * * *

hide in the caves, child
the Dragon is hungry
Green Cheese Moon

* * * *

an ego for lunch
hungry again in one hour
psi-vamp on the prowl

* * * *

snatching a soul
through the veil
dessert

* * * *

through your ghostly form
my sorrowing reach

* * * *

a nine-way kiss
takes some getting used to
hydra lover

* * * *

only dust
she sweeps where his soul
briefly danced

* * * *

immortal prison
your soul in the keep
of my dark heart

* * * *

the dark refuses
to hurry
a sun always rises


[re-posting of scifaiku I wrote over a period of years, and selected and posted here together for Halloween 2007. *Scifaiku are haiku-like poems with sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or cosmology themes. Photomorph "Signaling the Outer Planets" (10-30-16 008v2a) 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.

* * * *

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.

BARRICADED (photo) & SLEEPING BEAUTY'S COMPLAINT (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

SLEEPING BEAUTY'S COMPLAINT

dammit! why won't you just
let me go back to sleep and stay there
hell, I don't ever even have
the pleasure of your kiss to wake me
you simply burn in the background
raising the ambient temperature
'til I open my eyes
wide with astonishment
that here you are again
and then you rush away
deserting me in an agony of heat
like some cat in a back alley
please...leave...me...be...
I'd much rather another 100 years
of denial as deep as sleep to this
flaring up of your painfully
arousing image in moment
after waking moment


[non-dream free verse poem written 10-25-16. Photo "Barricaded" (10-27-16 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), 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.