FIRE & BRIMSTONE (photomorph) & TANTALUS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

TANTALUS*

the night of forgotten dreams ends
with a sotto voce announcement:
"Tantalus... Tantalus... Tantalus..."
as if invoking this prisoner
of the deepest level of Hell

she refuses to get caught up
in the images of starvation
and unending thirst that rise
at this intrusive whispering,
"No more!" she retorts in her mind
and brushes them off to meet her day

but just as her arthritic joints slip
into place, and her eyes begin to focus
on another morning, the simple truth
bites her unceremoniously in the butt
like a latter day Cerberus
cutting off her escape:

this torturous, unmet desire
waking within her as it does each day
is no less a Hell


[free verse poem on a dream fragment of 4-12-17. *The root of the word "tantalize" is the name Tantalus. Tantalus "was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his eternal punishment in Tartarus (the deepest level of Hell). He was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink..." Tantalus myth on Wikipedia BTW, Cerberus (in mythology, of course): a three-headed dog guarding the entrance to Hell to keep the dead from escaping. Photomorph "Fire & Brimstone" (5-10-13 12650v4a) 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.