WILTED WONDER (photomorph) & GIVING MY DREAMS A TALKING TO (free verse dream poem) by Roswila

GIVING MY DREAMS A TALKING TO

is “let’s face the music and dance” all you
had to say to me last night? if so, we really
need to have a talk; of course, you may mean
that comment (lifted right out of old song
lyrics) metaphorically, the word “dance,”
that is, given that that activity’s been beyond
me even just to sway, for a couple of years
now, arthritis having taken over just about
every major joint and some minor ones, and
even leaning heavily on my cane or walker
handles brings no joy … BTW, that word “joy”
(used without that negating “no”), if you will
recall, is what I asked you about as I went to
sleep last night: how to find a spot of joy
every once in a while (hey, greed is fading
just like much else at this end of life) …
seems even you’ve lost your creative touch
if your answer to me is to dance; but that
feels truly more absurd the more I think
about it: you’re probably doing your usual
thing and speaking in the tongue of images:
that life makes its own odd music and I must
face it and “dance,” in whatever way, literally
or figuratively speaking, that I am able to; and
joy, well, it will or it won’t appear somewhere
in the vicinity of my awkward moving on; then
maybe, on some special night when there should
be a full moon even if there isn’t, as I sway
(if only in my mind) to the beat of life’s heart,
joy will peek out again after all this time and
smile lightly on me, a reflection of times long
gone: so, indeed, let’s face the music and dance


[free verse poem on a dream fragment of 1-22-20. I heard and sang just the bit of the song lyrics quoted in the first line above, on and off all night. And it was a long, difficult night with lots of wakings and going back to sleep. So, I did a lot of “singing” of that snatch of a song. I don’t think, even given all the times I’ve heard this song in my 76 years, I’ve ever noticed before how sad it is at one level:

“LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE”
There may be trouble ahead
But while there's music and moonlight
and love and romance
Let's face the music and dance
Before the fiddlers have fled
Before they ask us to pay the bill
and while we still have the chance
Let's face the music and dance
Soon we'll be without the moon,
humming a different tune and then
There may be teardrops to shed
So while there's moonlight
and music and love and romance
Let's face the music and dance

Photomorph “Wilted Wonder” (11-20-18 002v6[10]) 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.

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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.