SOAKING UP THE NIGHT (photo) & WALKING ON (dream based mixed format poem) by Roswila

WALKING ON

we employees have
not been working well together,
not for a long time

our middle aged boss
has ordered the five of us
to stay the weekend
in the office with him for an old-
fashioned encounter group*

only one of us
refuses, a youngish fair-
haired, anxious guy;
as records keeper, I have to
rush to give him his papers

he doesn't buy it
when I explain there's nothing odd
to having papers,
but he takes them and leaves in
a haze of insult and anger

sadly, I realize he's right: the boss had
abused his trust by writing those papers

as I accept this
about the about the boss I'd liked, a young
blonde slim woman sits
on my right; I start to chat with her
but know very quickly to stop,

adding only that I realize she needs some quiet time
to let her boyfriend's rejection "sift through the sand"

her gratitude for my understanding's clear,
as is her relief when her best friend arrives

her friend resembles
her a lot, but is very obese;
conversation now
seems possible, even welcome,
as the slim woman relaxes

I ask them where they're from, not at all surprised
to hear the names of two bread basket** states

I begin to sense a great deal of history agitating
among us: personal, familial, genetic

then I note the large aqua plastic basket the slim
woman brought with her has been filled with water

I undress so as not to wet my clothing,
then gratefully soak my aching legs in it

there may be no way to wash away a gene's effect,
or the many consequences of abuse and rejection

but sometimes letting them sift through the sand,
or simply soak, makes walking on more possible


[a mix of tanka and two-liners with an opening dreamku, on a dream of 3-19-17. *Encounter Group, from Wikipedia; I attended a few, full day encounter groups back in my 20's (the hey-day, if you will, of such groups). **bread basket states: "Parts or all of 10 states sitting within the Great Plains. These states are North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Montana and New Mexico." BTW, "sift through the sand" is in quotes in the 7th stanza because it's a verbatim quote from the dream. Photo "Soaking Up the Night" (3-30-17 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.