A TANGLED VIEW (photo) & THE MANSION IN THE WOODS (dream writing) by Roswila

THE MANSION IN THE WOODS

she takes me on a tour of the new mansion
that took an exceptionally long time to finish,
but she's most excited to show me the many
lovely views of the undeveloped wooded lands
around it with its rivers and far distant mountains;
I'm quite impressed by them and say so, as she
takes my hand and starts leading me to a second
floor view she calls "the pièce de résistance;"
the man who'll live here joins us; I see that he's
completely healed and walking so well only a very
observant person could even note the tiny hitch
in his quiet stride; I can feel him check me out
the same way as he lags behind the other woman
and me, and somehow I'm certain he's pleased
to see that I, too -- if not anywhere close to
completely -- have healed; we three reach
the window and absorb it's splendid view
and it's truly the best of the many the mansion
affords, the light on the river and trees a healing
boon all by itself; and I wonder if I'll ever
have the great good fortune
to live in a place like this

[narrative on a dream of 10-3-18 (dreamed and written during my recent blog break). Talk about a wish fulfillment dream! Especially given the painful -- both physical and emotional -- things going on in my life right now. But there's a ton of other stuff in it, as well. E.g., as I came to the end of the first draft I realized that in a way I do "live in a place like this." The Santa Barbara area is often referred to as Paradise. :-) And as I dreamed/read about those window views, I was put in mind of my long walks, e.g., to the beach overlook park or the heavily eucalyptus tree lined road close to UCSB. So maybe what this dream is saying is to appreciate where I already am. As to the healing references in this dream, and the woman and man, there's just too much I could say about them and my associations to them, that is relevant to both my past and present life. So I'll have to let it all be suggestive, the way it's written .. the way it was dreamed. Photo "A Tangled View" (9-28-18 036v2b) 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.

SNAKES IN THE GRASS (photomorph) & THEIR OWN PURPOSES (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

THEIR OWN PURPOSES
(a "#metoo" dream)*

a foreign man of some sort
of Eastern-Asian extraction, pulls
me to him before we've even spoken
to each other, hey, we're total strangers!
the first thing I notice is the quality
of his tuxedo, I've never seen such fine
work and material, but this observation
is immediately shoved aside by the all
too familiar and compelling need to both
define and defend the integrity of my body
and space: he's all over me! hands lips crotch,
yes, crotch, as he backs me up against a wall
and mashes into me; why isn't anyone
at this big hotel celebration noticing
and rushing to my aid? I struggle to pry
him off me, realizing there's no one in
this large open lobby-corridor but us,
and then I note dark shadows standing
in the several archways surrounding
it: he's posted guards from his retinue
to be sure no one will come in! I start
to blame myself for this situation, as old
thoughts I'd believed myself well past
having anymore, such as "Well, if I
hadn't dressed so nicely, and lost all
that weight ..." begin to surface, even
as I shove his hands away from my butt
for the umpteenth time; ack! even when
I was obese and couldn't afford to dress
any better than a lumpy scarecrow,
the male of the species still molested
me on occasion, sneaky or outright,
but always uninvited: I think they smell
the vulnerability and the neediness;
most men and women might say
that these sorts of men read those
unintended messages all wrong, but
to my mind and from too much
experience, that's not the case, they
get them right, alright, but like all
predators, only by the light
of their own purposes


[narrative on a dream of 9-26-18 (drafted just before I started my blog break that ended early in October). *#metoo movement: -- if you're not familiar with this, click here. This dream was all too real, reflecting my history and feelings accurately. Though I'm not usually so angry. Then again, maybe it's good that I fully acknowledge the anger so that I can move on. If not to forgiveness, at least I won't carry the toxicity hidden away within me. Later comment: I subsequently had an even angrier dream -- see the dream poem of several days ago posted here and titled THE SNIPER -- which indicates I've got a lot of inner work yet to do on this issue. Eh, nu? I've been faced with this sort of stuff since I was only six years old ... Photomorph "Snakes in the Grass" (10-10-18 1008v2b) 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.

WHY FIX IT IF IT AIN'T BROKE? (photomorph) & WHADDAYAH GONNA DO? (two dreams from one night) by Roswila

WHADDAYAH GONNA DO?

dream one

how is this well-meaning
neighbor of mine going to help?
she can barely walk herself,
and she's going to rush
to that bus stop a block away
and hold the bus for me?
I do appreciate the thought
and -- even more so -- her clear
need to feel she's still of use
(yeah, that gets me where I live,
too), but it ain't gonna work out
and you'd think she'd
recognize that ...
hey, if I weren't used to
going slower than everyone
else by now, and constantly
rescheduling my various daily
plans, I'd really need help,
and more than rushing
to hold the bus!


dream two

I'm only a visiting office worker,
but before anyone else speaks up,
they request my opinion of the PowerPoint
presentation we'd all just viewed; it wasn't
very good, not very good at all -- I say softly,
but firmly -- the grey-green background's
jittery, distracting from the message
of the foreground action and text,
and the figure doing the speaking
and action not only doesn't fit
with the background but conflicts in
color and style with the text;
all who've just viewed the presentation
as I just did agree with my observations
and turn to me with a single question
in their eyes, framed archly by their
eyebrows, as if saying "well? would you
try to fix it, or better yet, re-do it?"
... will I ever learn? the first who
identifies a problem (whether invited
to or not) often gets stuck
having to deal with it


[two dreams from the night of 10-14-18. Photomorph "Why Fix It If It Ain't Broke?" (9-28-18 002v2e) 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.

A PATH THROUGH FALL (photo) & I'D SAY (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

I'D SAY

I'd say "the leaves fall between me and the distant fogged-in
mountains like tears," but that would be a cliché; however,
expressions become clichés because they hold a truth,
and so I'll let that opening image stand and even
expand on it: they are large tears, and dark, back lit
as they are by the mild glare of the misty light; but most of all
I have to insert here that I miss you already; hell, I missed
you when I shut my door after you last night for the final
time in order to go in search of my lost self, the self who
hurts now as she peeks out of hiding to watch the leaves
rocking slowly back and forth while they fall
as if they were in a cradle

[non-dream free verse poem written 10-3-18 (during recent blog break). Photo "A Path Through Fall" (10-10-18 010) 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.