tankatuesday

Winter Tanka

/ boz bozeman / 15 Comments

Tankatuesday.com is really helping me embrace winter imagery, along with the challenge of writing unfamiliar forms of poetry. And the counting syllables on the fingers. Multiple times, making sure. This time it’s 57577 – and you gotta give me “covers” as two syllables while “warmth” is just one.

Winter cloud covers
The thin warmth of the low sun
Light in the darkness
Clouds open and the frost shines
Holly branches sparkling

The third line is the pivot, meaning it should shift the movement of the poem in a different direction, but still relate to the first two lines. This invited the contrast between winter’s hard to love side with its great and sudden beauty.

My new poetry book Self of Steam is available now! I hope you will check it out.

Jinx

/ boz bozeman / 21 Comments

#Tankatuesday is quite a challenge this week. To celebrate Colleen M. Chesebro’s birthday, we are asked to write a poem with 65 syllables. We also get to name our poem type, and I’m calling mine a “Jinx” because it has 13 lines. Each line has five syllables, totaling 65. Believe me, that math was not easy for me. 

Jinx 

 

Falling up the stairs. 

Step on the stair that 

Is not there. Find your 

Balance or fall down. 

Feel the flailing fear. 

 

Black cats, cracked mirrors. 

Walk under ladders. 

No thirteenth floor, no 

Button for thirteen 

in elevators 

 

We walk away from 

Our superstitions 

And we gain true strength.

Here is the link to the challenge!

Shadorma Challenge #tankatuesday

/ boz bozeman / 6 Comments

The challenge this week is to write a Shadorma, which has a syllable count of 3-5-3-3-7-5. Along with this, the challenge includes random words that must be used in the text. 

A smile

Sticks onto my lips

As the song

of new spring

Is made up of birds singing

The flutter of wings

You can join the challenge here.

And yes I’m saying smile has two syllables. I think it could be argued that it’s one, but I’m saying SMY – UL

Reverse Cinquain for #tankatuesday

/ boz bozeman / 18 Comments 
Tall pines

More still than a seventh grader

Strong, firm, and evergreen

Subtle wind shift

Life map

This weeks challenge was to write about what you see through your window. I was in class when I read the prompt, so I decided to use my wonderfully large windows as an inspiration.

I don’t think I quite expressed the contrast between the stillness of the trees and the restlessness of the student, but that’s what I’m going for.

Join the challenge here.