THE DANCER (photomorph) & THE IBIS IN THE TREE (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

THE IBIS IN THE TREE

"Oh, don't move" she says, laughing
lightly as the ibis in the distant
tree turns, slimming from crescent
moon to near invisibility.

Her sketching briefly falters,
even joyful memory insufficient
to guide her attempted capture
of a blazing white moment
as it dances with the green.

The ibis appears in one glowing
incarnation after another,
her pencil trailing sketches
behind its transformations
like goslings behind their mother.


[non-dream free verse poem written in July of 1990. A friend told me of a heron she'd just seen in a tree over by the University of California at Santa Barbara pond (never remember the name of it, as I've not yet made it over to it on my walks). She mentioned how graceful it was. And I immediately recalled this very old poem of mine. Yeah, it's about an ibis -- or so my research at the time led (and still leads) me to believe. But heron or ibis, I can never tell them apart. In fact, I only chose "ibis" for this poem as they're said to commonly take up residence in coastal city parks. And this scene was in New York City's Central Park. I've only been living in California for 10 and a half years; the previous 60 were in NYC; the first five in Florida where I was born. Back to this poem: I was surprised when I went looking for it to discover that I'd never posted it here (nor was it on my computer until this typing). Of course, blogger's search function isn't all that thorough at times and it may have been posted way back when I first started this blog in 2006 or soon thereafter. In any case, it's a fond memory I'm delighted to share here now. And it gives me a surprise gift to mail that dear artist friend, who's still living in NYC: a copy of this post. (She's not computer savvy.) Photomorph "The Dancer" (5-18-15 026v3e)) 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.