FROM THE OVERLOOK PARK (photo) & WHAT COUNTS THE MOST (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

WHAT COUNTS THE MOST

she's dressed all in black,
her brand new top, just out of
the package, aligns
its crisp folds and wrinkles
along the curves of her weight

a weight for which
the exact number hangs in the air,
a psychic soundtrack
suffusing the city park scene:
"three hundred and thirty three"

it's eerie, I think,
but at my own heaviest I was
nearly the same size,
but enough of identifying
with her, how can I be supportive

what does she most need,
I ask myself, watching as she
enjoys using her
obese, nicely attired body
and slowly explores the park

she spots me looking
and quickly recognizes
my inquiring state,
giving me a joyful smile that I
readily return, nodding my head

yes, I'd forgotten that having one's experience
expressly acknowledged is often what counts the most


[tanka series capped by a two-liner on a dream of 12-1-16. Photo "From the Overlook Park" (11-29-16 013v2c) 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.

A NUMINOUS VIEW (photo) & 'TIL DEATH DO US PART (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

'TIL DEATH DO US PART

I can't believe I'm not over you yet;
as the old song goes: still crazy
after all these years*

that I think of you as I recall a dream
from last night is a good indication this was
what I was so desperately trying to end;
what else in my waking life these days
has the painful numinosity of that dream?

on the one hand that fiery light threatens
destruction (I can't go on this way,
the yearning alone will burn me out)
and on the other, it promises redemption
(yes, I am loved and loving at last!)

so it's pretty clear I was working assiduously
in my sleep to end this entrenched stand-off
in either of two ways: one, round and reddish,
like a large period to a run-on sentence,
and the other, small, shadowy, more a smear
than any distinct shape or object

and even as each skittered away from my grasp
I wondered, why two ways anyway? the last thing
I need is another decision to make, then again,
maybe they're two stages that need to be gone
through for the end to finally come

yet ultimately, what does it matter that I sit here
now, wrestling with that dream's challenges
in writing; I know all too well there's no way
I'll get unstuck, at least not while I'm alive

the addictive brain once it has a grip does not
let go, recovery a myth, all methods or stages
of separation no more than the stuff of dreams:
you're with me 'til death do us part


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-30-16. * "Still Crazy After All These Years," Paul Simon. Photo "A Numinous View" (11-29-16 014v3) 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.

INTERMINGLED (photomorph) & I COULD ALMOST WISH (non-dream, free verse poem) by Roswila

I COULD ALMOST WISH

your pain now so tangled up with mine,
turbulent resonances doubling the intense
difficulty of knowing which is whose,
that I could almost wish myself free
of you altogether: life lines untangled,
releasing us like scarred, but still
scintillating old fish back into the vast
ocean of emptiness


[non-dream free verse poem written 11-23-16. This could as well have been titled "The Empath's Plight." I do sometimes actually feel the intense, unexpressed emotions/pain of folk I deeply care about. The situation precipitating this poem is the most intense and involved one I've ever experienced. I will just about have decided I'm projecting, when what I've been feeling and suspect is theirs is confirmed in some indirect way by them as being theirs. Almost as if I've been doing their emotional work for them. Of course, I hasten to add that I do own the element of resonance. Especially in the situation in this poem: I'm exceptionally receptive to this person's emotions because they are so much like my own. Photomorph "Intermingled" (12-6-09 8515ev2h) 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.

HANDS OFF! (photomorph) & ON RATTLING THE BARS OF THE CAGE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

ON RATTLING THE BARS OF THE CAGE

As I wake, I can't shake the case I have against
myself though I know it's trumped up, this time quite
literally given the man involved was our President Elect:

He and I and several business cronies of his are on the
top floor of a New York City office building,
the floor to ceiling windows affording a view
they've all become so familiar with as not to see,
but one that still dazzles me.

I'm dressed very alluringly, to say the least,
a way I never dress but have wanted to try
ever since I got so slim; in a way, to show off
the results of all my hard work. The centerpiece
of the black and white outfit: a sleek black
strapless bustier that reveals my shoulders,
arms, and waistline in a graceful way
for the first time in several decades.

I am mildly nervous about attracting male attention
but ready to handle it tactfully and, who knows,
I may actually draw the interest of a man
that I want to get to know.

Then he steps up and without any
hesitation whatsoever starts loudly and crudely
commenting on my "sexy" looks; I step back,
he steps up to me again; I say sternly and right into
his leering face "No!" True to form, he doesn't stop
but ups the ante by trying to pull me into a kiss.

I shove him away and repeat "No!" even louder
as fear starts to rise alongside the anger.
The other men around studiously ignore my struggle
and I'm as angry at and fearful of them as him.

Yet a deep part of me, one I'd thought long liberated,
feels I'm to blame, whispering: This is exactly why you
never dress this way, not even now when you're slim
and it looks good on you. Have you forgotten what you
learned as a child that if you really want to be safe
don't rattle the bars of your cage. Don't do anything
to get the keepers' predatory attention.


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-28-16. I've actually been waiting for a Trump dream, given my history of childhood (and later) sexual abuse and harassment. So the main player in this dream was not a surprise. Nor is the fear that's referenced. However, that I still feel responsible at some deep level for having been abused, is. Photomorph "Hands Off!" (11-8-16 003v2bd) 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.

CIRCLE DANCE (photomorph) & THE LAST DANCE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THE LAST DANCE

they seem a rather handsome, romantic couple,
unlike many of the characters they've played
over the years in film and T.V.: he, most known
for a role as a foul-mouthed child abuser,
and she, as a stalker and kidnapper

they curl up together on the empty dance floor
on which they had just rehearsed a variety of dances;
as she pulls a blanket up over them he comments
in a joking manner that betrays its serious underpinning,
that she almost tripped him up during their last dance

she presses her hot body closer to him hoping to keep
him off balance as she has a new goal in mind,
and asks him to bring her into his larger life, that this
cavernous old dance hall no longer suffices, and she
wants out into a life beyond all this circling on a slick
wooden floor with no other dancers and only
canned music to provide the guiding beat

a whiff of danger rises when he looks directly
into her obsidian eyes; she holds her breath, well
aware she'd slammed into his boundaries
with her request and that the wall as it cracks
and falls could bury their affair altogether

and yet, and yet, to be out in the open
even without him, in the daylight or night and by
her own choice, well, that would have to be
a heaven more than worth the risk,
and who knows what other roles she might
find out there to fill

her breathing starts to slow as she waits for his response,
her deceptive calm giving the abyss of her black eyes
a mirror-like shine, in which he sees his face:
what else does he really need, he thinks,
but this clear view of himself, and so he teeters
on the slippery edge of giving her
exactly what she wants


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-27-16. Photomorph "Circle Dance" (6-12-16 001v2f) 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.

STEALING THE NIGHT SKY (photomorph) & WINDY MORNING (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

WINDY MORNING

the wind wraps my long braid
around my neck like a prehensile tail,
tree branches exclaim in dark
contortions as if trying to hold on to
the passing white clouds,
and underneath it all the ocean
tosses up dreams of snapping saw teeth:
a deeply glorious morning


[non-dream free verse poem written 11-28-16. Photomorph "Stealing the Night Sky" (10-15-16 020v4) 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.

FENCED IN (photo) & PROTECTIVE CUSTODY (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

PROTECTIVE CUSTODY

should I even write about this dream?
simply thinking about it starts me sobbing,
but to be honest many things these
days bring on a tumultuous, long waterfall

so why not: my brother (the middle
aged, as opposed to senior version)
and I have overcome our estrangement

it happened out of nowhere, we'd not even
been trying to, and now all's fine
between us as far as I'm concerned;
then I see him approaching from the end
of a hallway, looking hesitant
and a bit sad

once we're standing face to face
I get the sense he wants a hug but believes
it's not possible because things aren't
fully healed on my side

however, they most definitely are OK
and I take a shot, opening my arms, saying
that of course I still care, will always care,
that even when we were estranged
I loved him, that love does not die
when it goes into protective custody

it just curls up and cries through
the long winter nights (and days) alone


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-25-16. Although this is certainly about my actual brother (whom I'd been estranged from for many years when he died three years ago), it's as much about other relationships, as well. It may seem strange, but this song is what I woke up singing in my mind after this dream: Say Something, I'm Giving Up On You. The poem's title image connects the dream to this song. Photo "Fenced In" (10-22-16 022v2) 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.