WATCH YOUR STEP (photomorph) & ABOVE AND BELOW (dream narrative) by Roswila

ABOVE AND BELOW

she arrives at the airport to fly off
some place else, pondering a dream she'd had
the night before about being pregnant again

while she waits with all her luggage around
her feet, she realizes her extremely precocious
tow-headed toddler boy's wandering onto a lawn
and, at the same time, that it's her turn
at the flight check-in window

but she can't find her ticket or her wallet
with all her cash and credit cards, recalling
through her rising panic how many times
she's lost and recovered her wallet in dreams
though never an airline ticket

then she gets even more panicky: where's her
toddler boy now? and she rushes over to the lawn,
looking down a small dark hole that's appeared
in its expanse of green, terrified he's fallen
down it and gotten stuck

but it's surprisingly spacious down there:
at the bottom of a narrow flight of stairs
is a small grocery store and when she calls
down the hole for her boy, he immediately
comes running up to the foot of the stairs

then she's down in the store, her toddler boy
proudly showing and telling her about the tube
he's buying that contains a large organic tomato
and how he'll prepare a special meal with it

a couple of other customers also rave about
tomato tubes while she thinks it's odd
she'd dream about tomatoes given she's mildly
allergic to them, but then she supposes that
doesn't preclude her boy from making a dish
with one in it for others to enjoy

and she suddenly realizes with a vague
amusement that she's never had an underground
store dream before, wondering quietly to herself:
what's right beneath her feet that she needs
to own, rather than flying off into the sky?


[narrative on a dream of 11-6-16. There's more of that odd sort of lucidity (knowing one is dreaming, as one is dreaming) in this narrative that's shown up several times in recent dreams. Which, at one level, echoes what's been going on in my waking life: an intense (mostly painful) and thorough life review. In which the relationships between various memories and their positions within the emerging new big picture keep evolving. BTW, the analysis of the dream's imagery in the last two lines is also a bit of lucid dreaming. And I am actually mildly allergic to tomatoes. Photomorph "Watch Your Step" (1-17-15 010v10g) 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.

IN THE EYE OF THE FIRE OPAL (photomorph) & A GOOD FRIEND'S QUESTION (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

A GOOD FRIEND'S QUESTION

yes, your fire opal
needs to be worn frequently
to replenish its
large water content,* but what does
this black stone you love need most

what care is required,
how should it be treated for its
beauty to shine through


[a tanka and dreamku on a dream of 11-10-16. *This is actually said of opals, and I did know this before I had the dream. On another subject, today is VETERAN'S DAY. And although I do not think the childhood traumas I still struggle with come anywhere near what many vets live with, they do give me a basis for deep sympathy. And so I offer a prayer for healing and good lives for all. Photomorph "In the Eye of the Fire Opal" (12-7-14 005v6b) 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.

JUST ANOTHER CALIFORNIA SUNSET (photo) & FINDING GEMS IN ISLA VISTA (non-dream prose poem) by Roswila

FINDING GEMS IN ISLA VISTA*

Surrounded by college age students
in the midst of "the best years of their lives"
(as the old saying goes) I start to envy
their beauty and easy mobility,
not to mention, youth.
Then I'm hit by the sudden realization
that these years are truly the best years
of my own life, if decades later then theirs.
Even with all the arthritic pain,
the unmet (and not likely to be met) longings,
the losses of friends to dementia or death.
All and much more -- laughter, poetry, learning
(yes, always and still learning), shines
in my own days like a large, lightly crazed
fire opal, circled by faceted gems of all kinds,
in a gold bezel as bright as the summer sun.


[non-dream prose poem written 10-21-16 and worked on a lot today. *Isla Vista is the University of California at Santa Barbara town I walk through several times a week, on my way to the beach overlook and/or to shop. I find it interesting that I was drawn to edit this poem into some sort of presentable shape today, given my mood's in the pits. Guess some other part of me wasn't going to let me over indulge in it. BTW, I chose a fire opal for this poem intuitively. And was rather stunned when I found on googling how much of its lore can be read to apply to my personal issues. Fire Opal info; for the applicable lore scroll to the "The Metaphysics of Fire Opal" paragraph. Photo "Just Another California Sunset" (1-5-15 001) 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.

RISING SUN (photomorph) & HITCH HIKERS (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

HITCH HIKERS

the sun warms my breast and I think
yes, it's going to be OK ... no, not "going to be,"
but is OK, and moving forward,
and whatever comes along for the ride:
sadness, joy, rage, regret, mourning, calm --
a motley hitch hiker
who sticks out like a sore thumb
but ultimately disembarks,
fading back into the dark
that enfolds this road to the future


[non-dream free verse poem written 10-18-16. I wrote this a month ago, have worked on it several different times since, and I'm still not sure about it. Not that I'm ever really sure about a poem. It's like what Paul Valery said, a poem is never finished, just abandoned. I reach a point where I've done the best I can and if I don't feel it should be deleted, then it might be time to let it go, out into the world. After all, I can always do further editing -- which I do occasionally do, even years later. (BTW, I wish I could feel as OK with the results of our Presidential election. Scary.) Photomorph "Rising Sun" (11-8-16 05v2a) 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.

DANCE OF THE DENDRITES (photo) & THE WALL HANGING (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE WALL HANGING

she supposes this is what's known as
a "labor of love" (or rather, wants very
much to think so) and not the romantic
task that it sounds like but "self love"
as when one falls or is shoved onto
the sword of reality and is pierced
by the need for self care, waiting
no more for the rescuing Prince,
nor making anymore frantic searches
for a magic potion, but using her own
two hands to spin endless threads
out of nothing, with which she sews
the night's dreams back together
(her knuckles and wrists aching),
repairing that vast and heavy,
rainbow colored wall hanging
she somehow senses each dream
was a part of before her recall
rent each dream from the other,
unraveling the unconscious whole
of the night's dreaming fabric


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-7-16. I sort of woke up and began recalling a series of dreams intending to make notes. But fell back to sleep and had the one the above is based on. Upshot, I forgot all dreams but this one and one other rather long one (which I am working on a poem about). This dream reflects something I'm fairly certain I've mentioned here before: my theory that what we recall as separate dreams may really be pieces of one large dream from a night. Reconstructing the dream wall hanging also echoes what's been happening in my waking life. Like some huge jig saw puzzle, memories I've always had are being put together for the first time to create a larger picture of which I've not been aware. A process and emerging result that are explaining a lot and easing some things, but mostly are quite painful. Photo "Dance of the Dendrites" (10-27-16 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.

ESCAPE TO THE SKY (photo) & ESCAPE FROM THE MALL (dream narrative) by Roswila

ESCAPE FROM THE MALL

how odd! this time there's an escape
to be made from the mall,
when usually I'm engaged
in exploring it (with a certain amount
of frustration, but fully engaged)

and odder still, I have companions,
one clearly a woman friend,
the other vague but still
a definite presence

and then there's the fourth all three
of us want to join up with
(and somehow know we will):
a young man who's making his own
escape from this huge mall,
armed with a rather Star Trek-like
space gun that no one, not even
the mall cops, mistake
for the real thing

our escape, and the young man's earlier,
seem somehow unnecessary, after all
doesn't one simply leave a mall when
one wishes to? yet mall cops follow us
as we prepare to leave, chattering
on their collar mikes to each
other about the whereabouts
of the young man with the space
gun, also seemingly concerned
for the well-being of we three
and suggesting to each other
that maybe we should be retained
in protective custody

but who's to protect us from the lack
of sunlight beneath the mall's high ceilings?
from missing the sky climbing trees I can
already smell in my imagination? from
mourning the yearned for (and I'm starting
to believe fated) meeting up with the young
man with the space gun?

yeah, the cops' kind of well-meaning protection
no one needs, at least not the three of us,
I mumble to myself as I heft my nearly bursting
backpack onto my back and take one last look
at the array of old furniture I'm leaving
behind at the entrance to the mall

ah, there's the young man in the distance,
I think, as I see him slipping, a dark silhouette,
between two tall trees: how surprised he'll be
to discover he has three new friends looking
happily forward to travelling beside him


[narrative on a dream of 11-3-16. The first two "stanzas" were mildly lucid (knowing one is dreaming, as one is dreaming) since I was aware of other mall dreams I've had. This dream invites analysis via a Jungian model of the psyche. Right now, one way of looking at the young man is as the "contra-sexual element," which in a woman is called the animus. Then again, the four of us could be: ego, persona, sub- (or unconscious?), and Self. (That vague figure could be the sub- or unconscious.) In any case, it might be fun to do some thinking in this vein later when I have the time. I should also admit that I find what may be a sad premonition about something in my life in this dream. And leave it at that. Photo "Escape to the Sky" (10-27-16 013v2) 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 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.

* * * *

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.