IT'S OK TO COME OUT NOW (photo) & THE PROTECTOR (dream based free verse poem) by Roswila

THE PROTECTOR

the small, nearly albino tiger
remembers the cold years
before her internal thermostat
adjusted to her lack of color,
as if the warm flush of blood
had been drained from her
in some sudden catastrophe

those years when everyone
kept insisting she really needed
some typical bright tiger orange
on at least her paws and on the tips
of her large ears, to warm up her
white fur and its little zig-zag
stripes of black

all those years when she was still
pudgy and kittenish, but always
far too cold, well, it's a small miracle
she was able to concentrate enough
to learn her job as The Protector, given
not only the on-going disruptive chills,
but the small size and quirky grasp
she never fully out grew

fortunately, though, as she matured
her internal thermostat had adjusted
and the miserable chills
had disappeared

except on nights like this
when she patrols the perimeter
and she's hauled into hyper-alert
by a noise that sends ice shards
burning through her, triggering
recall of what she'd once been:
a kitten fractured by chills


[free verse poem on a dream of 8-17-17. Sigh. The Protector would really be welcome, in fact, is very needed right now. But all that's around is that shivering kitten. Talk about a backslide! Maybe that's what this dream was really about: a warning that I was going into a fractured phase. At least I hope it's only a phase and not my "new normal." Photo "It's OK to Come Out Now" (8-7-17 012v2) 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.