TREE OF MYTHS (photomorph) & THE THING IS ... (non-dream free verse poem) by Roswila

THE THING IS …

“I don’t know a thing about love …”
the old country western song lyric keeps
running through my tired and sad mind;
I’m always tempted to be sarcastic on
hearing that line and retort “I do know
a thing, and love does not exist;” i.e., it’s
humankind’s massive shared delusion,
embraced rather than fight the power of
this myth – like the emperor’s new clothes
no one dared see through; but, ok, rather
than one more knee jerk response on my
part to the song and all it takes for granted,
I will consider here that maybe there is
such a thing as love: could it be a stabilizing
force in our lives, like this indispensable
old walker of mine that enabled my arrival
to overlook this shining swimming pool; or
might it be what takes the chill off on-going
loss, like today’s fall sunlight easing my
arthritic pains; or what if it’s as inspiring
as an old song lyric that urges me to put
pen to paper, to enter the crowded and
dizzyingly colorful hinterlands of untold
stories and attempt to hack my way
through to a satisfying poem


[non-dream free verse poem written 11-8-19. Google for the Conway Twitty song “I Don’t Know A Thing About Love” for a YouTube presentation of this song. BTW, I actually like the song. And if you’re not familiar with the fairytale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” just Google for that, too. Photomorph “The Tree of Myths” (7-5-09 3326v16[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 or contrasting 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.

GO AWAY! (photomorph) & A HUNCH & HIDE DANCE (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

A HUNCH & HIDE DANCE

Hey, stranger, it’s been years since you’ve
Wandered through a dream. Have I missed
You? Not really. Don’t even think I gave your
Absence a thought, until now when your
Arrival here in my small, closet-like bathroom
Is totally inappropriate! You may be Brad Pitt
And as handsome as ever (though that never
Meant much in my dreams, just on waking and
Recalling your visit, as now) but I’ve never
Understood not so much the why of your
Visits (the dreams’ over all intents were always
Clear) but the why of it being you, again and
Again, over that several years, so many years
Ago. When as far as I could tell it could really
Have been any male of our species. And here
You are now, standing at the door you opened
To this closet I call a bathroom, and staring
At my nude body. I don’t even have anything
In here with me to cover up with as I do a
Frantic hunch and hide dance. And now,
With that vague amused smile on your face, you
Have the temerity to start critiquing my body,
Putting your comments in question form: Ack!
I know that old game, phrase it as a question and
You can claim it’s not a judgment. Well, you are
Judging my old body and trying to appear
Just curious and friendly … leave me be! I’ve
Had too much judgment rammed down my gullet,
Even when I was young and supposedly rather
Beautiful and still able to wield my considerable
Intelligence in an effective way (or at least my
Over-developed talent at denial allowed me
to believe so). Go! Be a star somewhere else,
Save your acting for someone who buys it.


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-6-19. Interesting how dreams can sometimes “out” feelings we weren’t aware of when we went to sleep. BTW, I did actually have several dreams, years back, in which Brad Pitt showed up. (Also, Angelina Jolie.) Photomorph “Go Away!” (10-21-19 [72-2]) 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 or contrasting 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.

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE (photo) & "the day-time half-moon..." (non-dream tanka) by Roswila

the day-time half-moon:
like a coin jammed in a slot …
forget about it!
why go on trying to get
what’s clearly unobtainable


[non-dream tanka written 11-2-19. Photo “Stuck in the Middle” (Archival Pix 6-14-09 2406e[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 or contrasting 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.

CRUMPLED DREAMS (photomorph) & REMAINDERS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

REMAINDERS

endless! filing and sorting and tossing and sorting
and filing and shredding …
I’d rather save all
my dear friend’s writing but I simply must get it
out of my way, weeded
mercilessly
and the remainders named for any (no matter how
unlikely) future retrieval,
but off my desk
and computer, and out of my paper files, now! yet
what to name what survives
my cutting eye?
ah,
that’s
a good moniker
for the remains
of her stuff, it does the massive, aching weight
of memory at least a wee bit
of poetic justice:

“Of Grasshoppers
& Shadows”


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-219. This is the last dream/poem of three that I referenced in my previous two posts. I haven’t had a chance yet to sit with these three dream/poems together and see how the inter-relate. As I’m sure they do. In fact, as I’ve mentioned here before, in my experience an evening’s dreams tend to work on a theme. Coming at it from different directions and points of view, but worrying at that theme like a bone. 😊 BTW, I was curious about the symbolism of “grasshopper” and here’s what I feel may be relevant (from an internet search): an “ability to connect and understand sound vibrations is why [s]he is also a symbol of your inner voice, [s]he could be telling you to trust yours…,” and “dreaming about a grasshopper is rather positive and indicates that you are learning important things in your life. Grasshopper brings messages of freedom when she hops into your dreams…” Need I say anything here at all about “Shadows”? As I think on it, meanings accrete like the layers of a black pearl. Yikes! That set me off googling about black pearl symbolism. If you’re interested, give it a shot yourself. Photomorph “Crumpled Dreams” (11-20-18 002v2[4]) 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 or contrasting 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.

RAILING AWAY (photo) & AT ONE TIME (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

AT ONE TIME

they tell me the name of the new elevated subway train,
going where I very much want to, is just the letter “O;”
“O”-Kay I say, wincing at my pun as I stand on the
platform in the chilly but sunny suburban afternoon;
a train pulls in, rocking the station lightly, “Oh”
emblazoned on the front and periodically down the sides;
“Oh” my, not exactly the train I was told I should catch
to get where I’m going, but so close in name as to make
no real difference to my way of thinking; so, I get on
and settle into the first car, gazing ahead through
the surprisingly clean front window, and enjoy my
first uncrowded New York City train ride in decades;
I’m startled when not only does it stop rather soon
but doesn’t move again; I look toward where the tracks
ahead should be, but rails go no further than this
station, the trackless path ahead nothing more than
a lane of grass and flowery weeds going straight
to the horizon: uh-“Oh”, I’m on the wrong train
after all and it’s not even backing up to run its
route in the other direction; we seem to be as rooted
here now as all that’s growing wildly where the tracks
must have been at one time:
right up to the deceptively near horizon


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-2-19. This is the second dream of the three I mentioned having on 11-2. I notice a similarity in image at the end of yesterday’s dream poem and this one: looking ahead into the distance. Of course, there’s much more in each of these dream/poems. And then there’s the third one, which I hope to finish writing in time to post tomorrow. The draft notes hint at a focus on the future, as does the looking ahead into the distance of the first two. Photo “Railing Away” (Archival Pix 6-14-09 2399[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 or contrasting 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.

SNAKING THROUGH THE NIGHT (photomorph) & FIRST GIFT FROM THE EVENING'S DREAMS (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

FIRST GIFT
FROM THE EVENING’S DREAMS

it all begins when she dreams how excited
she is to tell her friend that the dream
she just had predicts a thoroughly positive
outcome, adding quickly (sensing her friend’s
disbelief in the dream’s import): ah, yes,
I know this because I’d incubated the issue
of outcome like a snake slipping its eggs
into a warm nest, before going to sleep:
and what have I just seen at the very end
of this first dream of the night?
but a snake, gliding slowly ahead
through a dark and distant doorway
limned with light, as if blessing
what’s to come with an ancient
Goddess’s promise of healing


[free verse poem on a dream of 11-2-19. This dream is the first of three I’ve recalled from last night; will probably post the other two soon. About this dream’s snake symbolism (two quotes from the internet): “Historically, serpents and snakes represent fertility or a creative life force. As snakes shed their skin through sloughing, they are symbols of rebirth, transformation, immortality, and healing. The ouroboros is a symbol of eternity and continual renewal of life.” “Healing and snakes were associated in ancient Greek myth with Aesculapius, whose snake-familiars would crawl across the bodies of sick people asleep at night in his shrines and lick them back to health.” (end to quotes) And then there’s the famous Minoan Snake Goddess, one well-known statue of her holds a snake up in each hand. This is one of those dreams that’s packed with possible meaning for me. E.g., I associate that doorway to The Empress card in The Tarot: the Hebrew letter most often corresponded with Her is Daleth which in noun form means door. Could go on, but won’t. Sometimes I think dreams are like jokes: explain ‘em and they lose their punch. 😊 Photomorph “Snaking Through the Night,” Archival Pix 6-5-09 1837v4a(5) 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 or contrasting 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.