TARGET (photo) & UNRUFFLED (non-dream tanka) by Roswila

UNRUFFLED

two crows bedevil
a small hawk on a pole top,
swooping and cawing
they come within inches
of the resting, unruffled hawk


[non-dream tanka written 2-13-17. Photo "Target" (2-13-17 031v2) by Roswila; yes, I know, that's not much of a pic of that hawk, but it's the only shot that came out at all given where I was sitting and my camera's limitations]

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.

WHEN THE BONDS BREAK (photomorph) & THE LIVING LOOM (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THE LIVING LOOM

my dear friend and I
sink, tired and grateful, into
our hotel room beds --
with no effort at all she learns
to use the bed's weaving device

at a touch, her bed frame
extrudes threads like damp raw silk
that attach to her,
mostly at her wrists and ankles,
making her into a living loom

I'm not anywhere
near as quick on the uptake,
though I watch closely
how she drapes herself artfully
with each new long silvery thread

I try my bed but get only wet strands, like
unattached feelers waving around me, that fall

it's still not clear what it is she's weaving:
a long evening shawl or delicate hammock

but its iridescent beauty inspires me to take on
the growing pile of damp threads in my bed,

even as my puzzlement turns to frustration:
why won't their shining beauty stick to me?


[three tanka and four two-liners on a dream of 2-23-17. Photomorph "When the Bonds Break" (2-22-17 005v2b) 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.

TRAWLING FOR STARS (photomorph) & THE REFRESH BUTTON (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

THE REFRESH BUTTON

hey! where's the damn refresh button?
my feelings for you were not only bearable
but a delight to indulge in at the beginning,
and even once hope wavered until it
ultimately blurred into oblivion,
there was a rather pleasurable sadness
imagining where we might have
gone together

so, what gives? when did it all go stale?
when, and more to the point why did it
morph into this pain and self-recrimination,
as useless as some website, long abandoned
and visited now only by programs trawling
to drop irrelevant ads and noxious links
... I repeat:

where's the damn refresh button? something
creative and non-viral must have been added
to the mix since the unknown recesses
of my heart came on-line,
at that first electric
sighting of you


[non-dream free verse poem written 1-24-17. Photomorph "Trawling for Stars" (2-13-17 002v2d) 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.

DANCE FOR EVENING (photomorph) & "for once, I don't care..." (non-dream tanka) by Roswila

for once, I don't care
who might see me, and stroke
the cordyline's
reaching magenta leaves, my finger
tips grateful for my boldness


[non-dream tanka written 2-8-17. Photomorph "Dance for Evening" (12-19-16 012v2a); this is a cordyline plant; of course, all the colors in this pic are intensified, but the actual leaves of these rows of cordyline do range in color from soft magenta to various shades of pink; 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.

AT THE HEART OF THE FOREST (photomorph) & THE TINY WOMAN (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

THE TINY WOMAN

most everyone says
she's retarded, this tiny frail
woman with dark hair,
but I've never doubted she's just slow
for she copes better than most folk

her case manager,
who's also her caring friend,
confirms my insight
I ask this friend about the tiny
woman's birthday that's coming up

is there some way we
could arrange for the gift of a
flight to Gibraltar
and from there for her to visit
the land of the Pygmies in Africa

for it might close a loop in her life, help
her touch the ground of her beginnings:

that ancient smallness
in the heart of the intricate forest


[three tanka and two two-liners on a dream of 2-20-17. What a contrast this one is to that novella length dream about President Trump that I posted yesterday. In the most basic way I see yesterday's as about everything being outsized, exaggerated (plus a humbling that doesn't fully "take"). And today's, about, well, obviously, smallness. A return to a more natural, even basic size. In a way, getting over myself. Not denying the pain, etc. But getting it into some sort of perspective. With respect to that Trump dream, I keep seeing an image of that fish that puffs itself up when threatened by a predator so it can't be swallowed. Additionally, I think of some of the puffing as saying "Notice me! Help me!" This dream today puts me in mind of Jesus's image of it being "easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Smallness may serve not only to help with being seen, but with being brought back to the heart of life. Photomorph "At the Heart of the Forest" (2-15-17 005v2a) 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.

FALL OF NIGHT (photomorph) & THE FALL (dream narrative) by Roswila

THE FALL

two men fall off the top of a massively high New York City
skyscraper, along with President Trump

the two men manage not only to cling quickly to the side
of the building outside some windows, but also to catch hold
of the plummeting Trump

these two know they can open and make it safely through
a window, but that President Trump's too old
and weak to do so

one of the men wriggles through a window and clears
the floor space inside for Trump, as these two
are determined to get him inside somehow

Trump and the second guy hold on outside, but it's clearly
getting harder for the President, who's shaking and looking
more than a bit worried

the outside guy starts looking around for help as he knows
the cell call his pal inside made to 911 can't get results
fast enough

he tries to hail two male dancers who've just climbed
outside through a window in a building next to them,
thinking they look very strong

but he can't get their attention and who knows if they'd help
anyway given it's Trump they'd be saving and he's such
a controversial figure

and he thinks it's rather a shame that he even has to be
concerned about such mickey mouse opinions; Trump is
commander-in-chief

then his friend inside yells "He's falling!!!!" and Trump
is plunging rapidly down and down, right next
to the building ...........

and now it's no longer Trump falling but the dreamer part
of the me who lives the waking life: what'll happen
when I hit bottom?

and before I can think much more I'm in the East River,
or as I mumble to myself "in the drink...," and as always,
by myself

I walk back toward my office, dripping wet, squelching
with every hobbling step, and when I get there no one
welcomes me

not one person evinces relief I'd fallen all that way
and survived; all I get is disbelief that I'm the one
who actually took that fall

they even do a haphazard physical examination for evidence
to prove to them I'd fallen, yet even this is done
with no real interest

everyone's more concerned with a book one of them just
had published and why she chose to write in the form
she did: a simple talk with God

and I think maybe I should write a book about my fall,
maybe then there'd be interest in or concern about
what I've just been through

but something tells me nothing will work, I was lonely
and largely disliked before the fall, why would it be
any different now?

I'd probably have gotten more attention and care had I died


[narrative on a dream of 2-18-17. First and foremost, let me say that the "simple talk with God" may be the growing edge to this novella length dream. BTW, this is the other dream I mentioned in my dream poem comments yesterday. And although I still think (as I did yesterday) Trump is a major shadow figure for me, he represents much more. Too much to go into here. Suffice it to say it's a lot to take in and deal with. I should note that consciously I can't abide Trump. So how he's related to in the dream is very telling. Here's a somewhat eerie quote (its opening images echo my dream) from Wikipedia about the shadow in psychology: "The shadow personifies everything that the subject refuses to acknowledge about himself" and represents "a tight passage, a narrow door, whose painful constriction no one is spared who goes down to the deep well." If and when "an individual makes an attempt to see his shadow, he becomes aware of (and often ashamed of) those qualities and impulses he denies in himself but can plainly see in others—such things as egotism, mental laziness, and sloppiness; unreal fantasies, schemes, and plots; carelessness and cowardice; inordinate love of money and possessions—...[i.e., a] painful and lengthy work of self-education." Self-education, indeed. Sigh. And a note on this narrative's line breaks: I wrote it entirely in couplets, with only that last line standing alone. But this blog's template does not accommodate such long lines and I had to break them into three lines instead. I'm not a happy camper but at least I made my own choices on where to break the lines and didn't let the program choose for me. Photomorph "Fall of Night" (5-27-15 045v2n) 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.

DYING ON THE VINE (photomorph) & IN MY BROTHER'S ROOM (dream narrative) by Roswila

IN MY BROTHER'S ROOM

the pressure to pee forces me to seek out the toilet
in my brother's room; what a mess! the large space
clearly has not been straightened up in a very long time,
much less given a thorough cleaning; the ripped curtains
hang askew leaving the room totally open to the moon
and starlight, which ironically softens the edges
of the disarray, however, anyone can look in as well,
and will, given what city living's like; but the worst
of it is the rose bushes, they droop to the ground,
dead leaves and darkened dying blooms fall off
as I wend my way between their sad profusion under
the moonlight; as I begin adjusting the tattered curtains
to get some privacy I can see in my mind's eye that when
my brother's room is finally attended to the rose bushes
will need to be heavily pruned; though it's highly unlikely
they will spring back with new growth anyway;
life's never been and not about to be a bed of roses


[narrative on a dream of 2-18-17. My brother at about 6 years of age, which was the time our mother died. And he died a bit over 3 years ago, at 65. (BTW, I was 10 when our mother passed away, though in the dream I was the age I am now.) This dream is all the more intense given I'd just drafted a poem before going to sleep, in which (among other things) I asked for my brother's forgiveness for having failed him. What's more, this dream starts with a peeing image, which in my personal dream vocabulary often means I'm "pissed off." Much to ponder. Not to mention, the next dream I recall from last night is about Prez Trump, whom I cannot abide. And as I drafted a piece on that second dream, it became clear I need to look at what part of my own shadow self he represents. Ack! and Pitooey! Photomorph "Dying On the Vine" (2-13-17 021v2g) 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.