SWEPT AWAY (photomorph) & A POINTED QUESTION (non-dream prose poem) by Roswila

A POINTED QUESTION

she raises her deeply sad
young face to mine: do you
ever think that it's all just
too much, she asks; taken
aback at this tearful stranger's
genuine pointed question,
one I've had myself and
too many times, I only
think to say "Yes...
but it gets better..." even as
she walks quickly away
leaving me to wonder if
I've failed her; shouldn't
something other than a cliché
answer be retrievable from
the 50 year gap in our ages;
but after all, she is so very
young, no more than a freshman,
and has a longer path ahead
yet to hoe than I at 73; how
could I have added to her
bruising burden that it will
also get worse again, and
again, like a roller coaster
ride on which sometimes one
does good to simply hang on
with an agonizingly cramped
spirit, as it speeds into
the next, and the next unforeseen
precipitous fall; yes, child, it is
all too much, and too much of
the time, but it is the ride we're
wedded to; one might as well find
something about it to enjoy before
the next harrowing plummet,
like the sun warming
one's back or even just
the memory of the wind
bearing the heavenly scent
of sea mist roses from
the cliff's edge


[non-dream prose poem written 1-26-17. This happened in Isla Vista, the town that grew up around the University of California at Santa Barbara. I often walk there, sometimes to shop, and almost always taking pix and making notes for poems both coming and going. The young woman in this poem queried me just as I'd put away my camera after taking pix of some beautiful, gnarly tree roots. Photomorph "Swept Away" (1-27-17 004v2a) 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.

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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.