OUT THAT CHICKEN! (photomorph) & COUPONING?! (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

COUPONING?!

me? couponing?!
actually needing a few cents off
a junk food sandwich?
dang it! I saw a chicken filet coupon
in this mass of newspaper adverts

but I guess like everything else, it’s chickened out
and run off, turning its back on my intense hunger


[a tanka and capping two-liner on a dream of 4-26-19. Another response to an incubating question, this time: “What’s the most important issue in my life right now?” I asked this as I’d begun to wonder if maybe that “locked door” issue of two previous nights dreams were not at all what most needs my focus. And that’s why I was locked out to begin with. (Scroll down to read my two previous posts here for the dream writing and my comments, if you’re so inclined.) The issue/answer in the new dream poem above? Two things: how I eat and how I manage my money, and they’re very mixed up with each other. So much so as to be almost one big, messy issue. It’s too much to go into here. Suffice it to say I’ve been wrestling with these two tangled issues the vast majority of my adult life. I now have a clearer picture of why I was locked out of that dream apartment that so reminded me of one I lived in for 23 years before moving here to CA. Another huge issue of mine is focusing on the past, and that lock-out dream was suggesting that the past is done, gone, over, there’s no going back even just to try to understand. Right now, continuing to face and deal with my food/money stuff is paramount. I’d even say critical, given how heavily they impact other aspects of my life. Photomorph “Out That Chicken!” (7-28-09 4458v7b[2]) 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.

DELIVERING THE MESSAGE (photo) & F (dream narrative) by Roswila

F

yep, a yellow capital letter F is all I see, hanging
in the dark of dream memory, as if chalked
on a blackboard; is this the answer to the question
I’d asked, over and over, before going to sleep
“Why was I locked out of that apartment in my dream
last night?” this F is certainly a simple enough answer
given that dream responses to waking questions can
often be elaborate, but how am I to understand
this one letter? does it stand for the “f” word
that’s become almost ubiquitous in young folks’
speech these days (and, blush, mine in private
as I get older and older, and crankier and crankier)?
or, is it what hits me (gently, but firmly) upside
the head: I’ve been given a failing grade, the only F
I’ve gotten in my entire life, but here it is, posted
indelibly in my memory in yellow: not my favorite
color, though it was my mama’s; of course, a raft
of other questions remains, and at the top of the list:
at what did I fail ? as I think more on this F image
a disturbing and deeply sad association surfaces
to the yellow Stars of David, chalked on Jewish
folks’ front doors during WWII by Nazis: I’ve been
judged and identified as a failure -- in what way,
by whom, and the ultimate cost for which, all
yet (and maybe never) to be known


[dream of 4-25-19, in response to the incubating question mentioned in the dream writing. The previous night's dream was posted here yesterday. Photo "Delivering the Message" (Screenshots 4-11-19[2]) 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.

WATCH YOUR STEP (photomorph) & TAKING STEPS (dream) by Roswila

TAKING STEPS

“yes,” she says
to herself under her breath,
“I think I know
where I can get what it is
I want…” and she starts
the long dark climb
up the stairs to the apartment;
she fingers
the door key in her pocket expectantly
but is frustrated to find that both doors
on the shadowy stair landing
have multiple locks,
along with other small
obstructive devices taped
across them;
if it were
a better lit scene and she weren’t
on an almost desperate hunt
for something
in that apartment, she might
take a photo
as it’s like an artsy, latter day collage;
but
she’s upset and hot on the trail
of what she wants, so she
sets about figuring a way
through the doorway
on the right;
“Maybe it’s some sort of ruse,”
she thinks, “and my key will
fit every one of these locks…”
but how can she even see
in this darkness
to fit a key in one,
much less many small locks?
she realizes
the lack of lighting is probably deliberate,
part of how entrance
is being barred,
and goes about examining the other devices,
disguised as letter page-sized windows,
that have been taped up,
mostly on the door
to the left; she’s able to move
a few from the left-hand,
worn wood door to the shiny
dark wood door on the right,
but recognizes
rapidly this will have no effect on her being
locked out; this tape and paper tack is only
giving her something to do
as she stands here,
refusing to give up on her quest;
what an irony,
as she’s not even sure that what she wants
is in that apartment,
but she’d rather keep trying to get in
after this lengthy,
arduous climb, than turn tail
and clamber
all
the
way
down
in
dark
defeat


[dream of 4-24-19. Lots in this dream (and more I’ve yet to explore). To start, I incubated a dream last night before sleep with the repeated question: How can I find my way home when I’m lost like this?” Not the response I might have wished for. I.e., I’m locked out, in no uncertain terms. However, I have a lot more thinking to do on this jam-packed dream. Also, for many years (starting before I even moved here to CA 11 years ago) I’ve had a repeating dream theme of climbing stairs along which I’d always find a very difficult patch to get past, but I would. Where I was climbing to was rarely even part of the dream. And last, but certainly not least or even a final “last,” I have an extremely strong association to these stairs and landing to the apartment/building in lived in for 23 years in Elmhurst, NYC before I moved here. Photomorph “Watch Your Step” (2-24-19[7]) by Roswila: BTW, this pic is best viewed in a larger version, just click on the image if you are interested]

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.

ROUND AND ROUND WE GO (photo) & A TINY TODDLER (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

A TINY TODDLER

a handsome, youthful
father I’ve seen around the small city
pushes a stroller,
and for once my eyes are not on him
but on the motion in the stroller:

a tiny toddler
laughs and pumps her legs as if riding
a recumbent bike

between her shiny
blonde hair and fast kicking
she hooks my gaze,
and I’m reminded of the simplest
joy there is, that of doing


[two tanka bookending a dreamku, on a dream of 4-23-19. There’s quite a bit more to this little dream than I’ve chosen to emphasize in this poem. E.g., a hint of envy at how she’s able to use her legs so freely. Something that, given my arthritis, I can no longer do. And there’s father stuff in here, too. Which I find intriguing as earlier this morning (before drafting this) I’d looked into the notice that had just arrived, of my up-dated DNA profile on ancestry.com. And it now has lots of new info on the USA region that his side of my family immigrated to in colonial times: New York State. Which has left me feeling Dad’s “presence,” if you will. Photo “Round and Round We Go” (6-27-14 007[3]) 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.

THE BALL HAS LOST ITS BOUNCE (photomorph) & BIBBLES 'N KITS (mixed format dream poem) by Roswila

BIBBLES ‘N KITS

the only word that comes
to mind for the little bits of food
we’re spreading around?
“kibbles,” and then the dream gets goofy,
like that old ad with a loopy talking dog,

repeating and repeating it in a spoonerism:
“I gotta get me some bibbles ‘n kits! bibbles ‘n kits!”

the silly words bouncing around the dream like
those colorful balls we’d follow as little kids

to sing along (or not) with early morning T.V.
cartoons, after a night of equally daffy dreams


[a tanka with three two-liners on a dream of 4-22-19. A nice break to have a silly dream. Photomorph “The Ball Has Lost Its Bounce” (10-27-15 034v3g[2]) 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.

PORTRAIT EN GLACE (photomorph) & AN EASTER DREAM by Roswila

AN EASTER DREAM

ah! here’s another version of Anubis,* that jackal-headed
God, only this painting’s huge, tall and narrow, and nearly
life-size (if one can know what “life-size” would be a for
an ancient Egyptian Deity) and the other painting was just
an ad of some sort in a newspaper but impressive enough
that I’d saved the page; however, this one hanging before
me in an art studio display is the very essence of the ex-
pression “something else;” it’s been ages since anything’s
grabbed me so viscerally and with such joy; my teacher
watches me as he listens with his usual care while I tell him
how much I like this Anubis art work: the bronze highlights
on a nearly monotone palate, the painterly realism that ex-
poses more than any photo could, the casual grace of His
pose as if the viewer has just caught the attention of the
monumentally calm God; my art teacher listens closely to
my praise, then gently comments “I don’t like this Anubis
painting” in such a way as to get across a much deeper
animus; I’m quite surprised but listen as he goes on
(apparently on an entirely different tack altogether but
I’m not totally sure of this) to encourage me to get back
to my own exploration of the art of painting; then I
find myself standing before a huge square canvass in
a dark wood frame; I’ve finished painting what looks
to be a very soft, almost blurry portrait of a woman
from some time ago, maybe decades, maybe centuries;
I feel deeply related to her, if not literally, certainly
in some other sense, and start working on the tone
of the translucent glaze I want over the entire picture,
not for protection but for texture and more important
to get the proper color filter effect I’m after and will
only know when I accomplish it; the entire scene
begins to fade away around the edges of my vision,
as I start to apply the third layer of lightly tinted,
clear glaze to my artistic effort; how many more will
need to be carefully brushed on to achieve the color-
tone that feels right to me, and more concerning,
do I have enough time left to keep layering
glazes on in my search for a tint I've not
yet found, before everything
fades out
to black


[a dream of 4-21-19, Easter Sunday. Although many, many years ago I did a lot of reading into all sorts of mythology, Anubis was not one that ever became of interest to me. Still, all that reading is in my unconscious somewhere, I’m sure. A massive, messy library, if you will. Even so, I was surprised when I Googled Anubis and (re)discovered he’s a psychopomp, a guide for the dead into the after-life (among much else, of course). To dream of him on Easter seems significant. Cutting to the chase (or I’d be typing here for another life-time), I think the most important message in this dream is for me to pay attention to my life, and stop all this depressive maundering about being at the end of life and having accomplished nothing but negative things. The end is real enough and will come soon enough. Live the time I have. Another important point is the issue of judgment: both judging others and myself. Instead, just do my work conscientiously and leave any judgment to Anubis and Maat’s feather. Quote from the internet: “In the weighing of the heart rite, the heart of the deceased is weighed in the scale against the feather of the goddess Maat, who personifies order, truth, and what is right.” It was woe to the one whose heart out-weighed Her feather. The rite was overseen by *Anubis. Photomorph “Portrait En Glace” (10-14-14 010v2c[2]) 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.