EACH IN THEIR OWN WAY (photomorph) & WHAT GOT INTO ME (dream narrative) by Roswila

WHAT GOT INTO ME

even as I ask him if I can sing along
I realize I've got a lot of, shall we say, nerve:
sing along with Frank Sinatra?! and a song*
I have trouble recalling the lyrics to and don't
even have written down to follow as I sing?!

but the die's cast and we're performing (if you can
call that what we're doing) as he's clearly thrown
off by my lack of knowledge of the song's words,
noticing when I try to signal a friend to pull
them up on her smart phone

to top it all off the handicapped child of a friend
has arrived unexpectedly to listen, and possibly
perform later himself; the shushing sound of
the portable respirator on the child's chest
and the rolling of his wheelchair into place
backstage is a further distraction to my already
wobbly focus though I respond to his weak
but happy little wave with one of my own

when the song's (blessedly) over I immediately
apologize to Frank (after first apologizing for
calling him Frank and not Mr. Sinatra, yikes!)
that I never should have taken on a song I
didn't know extremely well, and that I don't
know what got into me to do so

he tries to reassure me by pointing out that
the song I chose is tough to sing along to,
no matter how you stack it, as it's in
the style of a requiem and so its beat is
unpredictable, designed to be formless
to accommodate the many differing
types of mourners who come
to it for solace

sigh, I think, it's true my grief has never
fit any form or expectation, and it's not
really surprising that I forgot the lyrics
as ultimately they're about not letting go,
even as the tune's requiem rhythm
betrays the painful reality of loss


[narrative on a dream of 12-2-16. *Lyrics to "I've Got You Under My Skin," the song I tried to sing at different points as I was dreaming, but to which I could only recall a very small portion of the lyrics. Photomorph "Each In Their Own Way" (12-09-16 041v2a) 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 PRESENCE OF THE PAST (photo) & THE MAGIC IT RUNS ON (dream narrative) by Roswila

THE MAGIC IT RUNS ON

(the memory camcorder replays the dream,
which was already in progress
as the recording began)

... a young dark haired woman begins to manifest
in the room; she's not only clearly terrified
of what she's been fleeing but in labor, and equally
afraid of the Priestess who steps forward to help her

the Priestess, from ancient Egypt and adorned
in full sacred regalia, checks the young woman's
dilation, crooning to her that it's OK to come
through to this time and place, to this big city
of tall chrome and glass buildings

yet the young woman not only holds back
on the birthing, trying to wrap her dark, shadow-like
clothes tightly around her and refusing to bear down,
but is too afraid to risk coming fully forward
into this unknown time and, instead, wavers
in out and out of manifestation

the Priestess senses the young woman's fear
is come by honestly and leaves the small
office-cum-sacred-birthing-space to find
a guard to stand by in the birthing room,
both to calm and to protect the terrified,
wavering woman in labor

as she enters the down elevator the Priestess
meets up with a handsome, young, bare-chested
guard confidently holding a large crescent
shaped sword in one hand

she explains the situation as the elevator
approaches the ground floor: "The young woman
simply refuses to come through fully..."

"I've seen this before," the guard replies
"what chases them here must be quite a nightmare
if it leaves them so afraid to accept any help"

the Priestess gets an odd, far away look in Her
large dark eyes, adding slowly "Do you think it
possible she can't come completely through
because she's actually dreaming us?"

they look at each other, each masking a shiver
with a slight shrug, then fall silent as they wait
for the next elevator back up to the birthing
room, after all, as the Priestess breaks the silence
to note, the young woman will bring an infant into
this world any minute, whether or not she allows
herself to fully manifest along with her babe

the up elevator arrives, the magic it runs on
humming like a soft lullaby


[narrative on a dream of 12-13-16. Photo "The Presence of the Past" (12-09-16 018v2) 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.

WINTER STREET, I.V., CA (photo) & WELL CONNECTED (dream narrative) by Roswila

WELL CONNECTED

the red-haired woman is masquerading
as a woman as young as her niece, she's
really much older and white haired

but her senior aged woman friend
is unaware of this deception, only
being concerned for the whereabouts
of that young niece

and off the two of them go,
searching for the absent niece,
the red-haired woman in a rather
abstracted fashion

as they wander the city sidewalks
the senior aged woman
becomes aware of a thoroughly
knotted cord connecting her red-
headed woman friend and herself
by their ankles, although long
and not very thick it does keep getting
in the way, leading the two of them
in a loopy dance they choose
to make merry

when she trips over it yet another
time she notices her feet are bare
and chuckles ruefully to herself
that she's not been barefoot on
these concrete sidewalks since
her (decades ago) hippie days

then suddenly the masquerade
is over and the (now formerly)
red-haired woman, with no shame
at all, explains that her real duplicity
has been even harder to maintain:
she and her niece are actually
the same person

well, thinks the senior aged
woman, we make quite a well
connected trio, don't we?


[narrative on a dream of 12-14-16. Photomorph "Winter Street, I.V., CA" (12-09-16 016v2a) 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 FIRE WITHIN (photomorph) & THAT FIERY BRAND (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

THAT FIERY BRAND

she'd rather play
the blame game
and say he broke her,
but the truth is she held on to
the imagined possibilities
of him like a burning brand
that ultimately split her
wide open, a long over due
opening onto unfelt pain
that she didn't know
she wanted, much less
needed, when she took up
that fiery brand


[non-dream free verse poem written 12-12-16. BTW, "brand" is an Old English word for "branch." Photomorph "The Fire Within" (12-09-16 003v2) 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.

DIVERGING PATHS (photo) & WHATEVER THE TRUTH (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

WHATEVER THE TRUTH

I'd like to think it's your soul I've seen shining
so brightly at times that it almost blinds me,
and not just the light that backs us all up
reflecting in a brief burst off the slick,
hard surface of your defenses

but is there any difference to the eye
that trusts in the soul in us all:
whether I see it or not, your soul's
still there somewhere
informing your life

a life I'm grateful came into mine,
with all your stark hollows
and magnetic flesh,
fragmentation and promise,
agony and excitement
that both trigger and affirm me

whatever the truth of it, soul
or defensive reflection, as I now
of necessity struggle to move on
I cherish the bittersweet memory
of that erratic light
as it would flash through
from you, briefly filling
my often dark and lonely life


[non-dream free verse poem written 11-28-16. Photo "Diverging Paths" (12-09-16 026v2a) 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.

LOST IN THE SPIN (photomorph) & FLYERS (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

FLYERS

maybe I feel like such a dizzy broad
these days because all any man
I'm intrigued by ever does
is circle me, and circle and circle,
at more or less of a remove

and I, more the fool, secretly follow
his passage round and round
from the corner of my eye,
wondering if this latest flyer
will actually strap on a pair
and come in for a landing


[non-dream poem written 11-14-16. Yeah, I've used that expression in the next to the last line previously in a non-dream poem. But the more things change, the more they stay the same (Ack!). Photomorph "Lost in the Spin" (10-9-09 7455v2f) by Roswila; and for you observant folk out there, yes, this morph is of the photo I posted here yesterday.]

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.

REST STOP (photo) & GENTLE ANCHORING (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

GENTLE ANCHORING

several of us are lounging around
on an almost futon-thickness carpet
enjoying a lazy time together,
as I become comfortably drowsy

a man I've always been a bit drawn to,
is behind me, lying off to my left,
not touching but within range

then I realize it's almost past time
for me to go, but I don't want to
leave this pleasant little gathering
and so I begin to exaggerate
my drowsiness, hey, if I "fall asleep"
it's not my fault when I miss my
appointment, is it?

the man behind me somehow senses
exactly what I'm doing, and why,
and drapes his long left leg down
and over my left side from behind,
as if to help keep me softly
but firmly in place

as I silently accept the enjoyable
warmth and heft of his leg against me
he loops the fingers of one hand
through one of mine, and as with his leg,
there's no pressure, just more gentle
anchoring in the present moment


[free verse poem on a dream of 12-10-16. I would not have given a plug nickel I'd have had a comforting dream last night. I went to sleep in very bad shape, so to speak. And did not even incubate a question for my dreams. So this was a surprise gift. Photo "Rest Stop" (10-9-09 7455v2) 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.