INTERNAL COMBUSTION (photomorph) & INTO OBLIVION (dream based prose poem) by Roswila

INTO OBLIVION

he enters the race along the wooded road,
despite the fact his motorcycle's been acting up
for a long time now, "What the hell," he thinks,
"At least it'll distract me for a while, and maybe
(yeah, like that'll ever happen) my bike'll
cooperate for once and go the distance
with no problems"

but of course, the hog (it's one of those old
huge machines, right out of some Hell's
Angels movie) stops dead in the middle
of the race, trees all around shushing
in the winter wind as if to muffle
his exclamation of self-pity, "What else
did I expect!" he exclaims, throwing
his large calloused hands up in the air
"I give up!"

and he walks, rolling the cantankerous old
bike to the edge of the road, up to the rough
wooden fence guarding a precipitous fall into
a canyon, "Forget saving it for parts," he
mumbles, and shoves the hog into the fence,
watching it break the makeshift railing
to bump and careen wildly down
and out of sight

he stares after the bike for some time, "You'd
never guess a classic old motorcycle
had passed this way," he says out loud, as
he sees the underbrush springing back into
place, erasing the hog's artless path
into oblivion


[prose poem on a dream of 2-10-17. I could go on about the influences producing -- and the many associations to -- this motorcycle dream image. Bottom line: it's my aged, arthritic body, and taking it a notch further, my equally aged and hurting spirit. I've also recently been wondering about what of worth will be left behind when I die, if anything. Photomorph "Internal Combustion" (5-24-15 013v6a) 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.

FLYING LOW TO THE GROUND (photomorph) & OFF THE WALL WISDOM (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

OFF THE WALL WISDOM

scenario one:

one owl egg has hatched, hanging on
the dark wood wall, the baby's already huge
and fluffy; I ask if the other two eggs (or is it
three) also attached successfully to the paneling
and hatched there; even as I ask I see that
they have begun opening their small beaks
to be fed; time swallows this sight with the sad
news that they've died; I quickly query: all
of them, even the big one?


scenario two:

all three (or is it four) owl hatchlings
and the "houses" they hatched and live in
hanging on the wood wall, are put up for sale
as it's been estimated they'll pull in a pretty
penny (and even more); I know "income
is useful" (as a dear friend says when she
sells her art) but am particularly disturbed
at the idea of selling the big baby owl;
before I can put a finger on what about
this sale so deeply disturbs me, it's a fait
accompli and they're gone


scenario three:

what happens to wisdom that hatches
on the wall and is left there to hang,
is it hanging there still: waiting to be
taken down and released into flight
to live out its natural life, the reverb
from its turnings, its rises and falls,
the anchoring bass line in a lush
symphony played by the wild wind


[free verse poem on a dream of 2-9-17. Owl symbolism is rich and complicated. I've had owls in my dreams over the years and am always left wondering what it "really" means beyond wisdom. Here's a link to some owl lore: Owl Spirit Animal. I think the most impactful thought on owl symbolism I just now read on line was that if Owl has shown up in one's life, especially in a dream, truth is an issue. That, and the emphasis on transition, of course. Photomorph "Flying Low to the Ground" (5-24-15 007v2a) 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.

OCEAN REFLECTIONS (photomorph) & MORNING WALK AFTER A NIGHT OF RAIN (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

MORNING WALK AFTER A NIGHT OF RAIN

off for my usual walk, feeling
unusually and acutely lonely:
could loneliness be a fraudulent
understanding we perpetrate
on ourselves to excuse a huge
intimidating world?

* * * *

a puddle overflows the old
curb cutaway: the wet trail
of my walker wheels
on the sidewalk after I cross it:
will what I leave behind in this life
fade away as quickly?

* * * *

everywhere, rain drops!
I refuse to reduce this glistening
world to an echo of my constant
sorrowing tears

* * * *

thank heavens for the open
doors of our senses: the caw-
caw-cawing of crows swooping
above as I watch one search
beneath an old willow, its black
all the more intense against
the damp green grass, I'm certain
whatever it finds will be a gem
of the moment

* * * *

stay with me, ocean, remind me
when all seems gone or useless
that yours is the way home
if not home itself, far better
to be on the way than stuck waiting
for Godot, endlessly chewing over
what was and might have been
or imagining the worst of futures;
remind me, ocean, of your way,
of your salty wake up scent,
of your way with stones and shells
and broken glass and how you
make art of them all, of your
endless alterations, and most of all
of your echoes in the pumping
of my heart's chambers


[non-dream free verse poem written 2-8-17. I actually have 21 sections like the five above; these five were the ones that speak to me today and seem to fit together. I can imagine the others may very well show up in future poems. BTW, they were all written on my long walk to the ocean yesterday. Or rather the notes were taken for each image as I experienced it, which meant lots more stopping than usual to scribble in my little note pad. A fun adventure, even as I sorrowed and thought and maundered my way to the beach overlook park. Photomorph "Ocean Reflections" (5-24-15 056v6n) 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.

SWIRL STICK (photo) & IT'LL DO (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

IT'LL DO

many long spoon tip swirls
parallel each other in the last
of the peanut butter
at the bottom of the jar:
no Zen garden, but it'll do
for starters on this foggy,
foggy morning


[non-dream free verse poem written 2-8-17. Photo "Swirl Stick" (5-24-15 034v2) 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.

REBUILT HEART (photomorph) & AN ISSUE OF DIRECTION (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

AN ISSUE OF DIRECTION

"What else could love be, if not what bursts at the seams."
(a "poetess" quoted in a poem by Bhikkhu Abhinando)

yes, love may burst the seams
of the artfully stitched together life,
an explosion of joy leaving
no cover or enclosure to limit
this most intimate of connections,
and like the sun's light and heat,
nourish all surrounding life

but love can also implode, collapsing
inward after a great blow, ripping
apart the seams of the patched together
life, exacerbating the loneliness of "I"
as it shrinks even further away
from rejection or loss
and compacts into a black hole
whose massive gravity pulls
on everyone and everything
to make it whole again


[non-dream free verse poem written 2-6-17. Photomorph "Rebuilt Heart" (5-24-15 056v6b) 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.

WHAT THE SHADOWS KNOW (photomorph) & YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR CAKE & EAT IT, TOO (dream narrative) by Roswila

YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT, TOO

he could not care less about her upset,
not getting that she has to find one
of those private little down ramp exits
from the supermarket she's used before:
I know they're here, she says irritably, I've
pushed my full food cart with ease down
and out ahead of me on one many times,
and I'm really anxious to get out of here,
to leave all this glaring temptation behind

she wanders the aisles alone, checking
the shadowy bottom shelves where the exits
usually wait, but there's not one anywhere
in sight; of course she could always just walk
out the way everyone else does, down a wide,
well lit aisle, but as always denial's got
her good: I will not go out that sunny
front door, she mumbles, I do things my
own way, not to mention, that what I buy
to eat's no one's business but my own

the cart seems unusually cumbersome
today, as she continues to search for an escape
from this den of temptation that she can be
comfortable with: maybe it's all
the binge food she's stuffed it with
that's making it so hard to steer


[narrative on a dream of 2-5-17. Photomorph "What the Shadows Know" (5-27-15 017v6) 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.

HOW THE CHRYSALIS SEES IT (photomorph) & A NIGHT OF WISHFULFILLMENT (two dream narratives) by Roswila

A NIGHT OF WISH FULFILLMENT

we watch the large butterfly, just out
of its cocoon, swoop around the room,
and I'm moved to tell her that many years
ago a white butterfly followed me around
on a hike, flitting from bush to bush until
when I stopped to check it out more closely,
it flew straight up in the air and then as I held
my breath, landed on the back of my hand ...
both my friend and I know I'm hoping
this one, too, will feel safe enough to perch
on me, and just as we silently acknowledge
this yearning of mine with small smiles,
it flaps up to me and lands over my heart;
I'm certain my friend's startled reaction
will chase it off but it doesn't budge; in fact,
it feels as solidly attached to my breast pocket
as a brooch; I now become concerned as it's
far too delicate to stay there over my tumultuous
heart for any real length of time, so I try
lightly shooing it away, but it doesn't spook;
I begin to feel almost burrowed into by its
definite presence; what an odd turn of events:
a wish granted, but now how do I deal
with its delicate persistence

* * * *

I'm hugely pregnant and have been hobbling
around the two story wood-frame beach house
I share with a friend; when I approach the stairs
and sigh, girding my spirit and legs and big belly
for the climb, my roommate quickly raises her
hands in the air, mumbles a short spell, and
VOILA!
the stairs turn into a long, low angle ramp,
after which she adds that all the stairs
in the house are also now ramps: the baby
moves suddenly inside me as if jumping
with delight, as I would if I could


[narratives on two separate dreams of 2-4-17. BTW, the butterfly memory dreamed/shared actually did happen to me on a hike, back in the middle 1980's. I've had many stair climbing dreams over the years and there's always some sort of problem with the stairs themselves (e.g., an entire missing section of steps). Problems I always deal with on my own. This is the first time there was another person's intervention, and also a total transformation of the stairs. Both wish dreams are largely about transformation and they will generate an interesting Tarot card reading tonight, I'm sure. I would not have given a plug nickel I'd have had any sort of positive dreams last night, given the state in which I went to sleep. Photo "How the Chrysalis Sees It" (3-31-15 016v7a) 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.