The form below is called a Renga. The breaks show the different line requirements and syllable counts. More info can be found at tankatuesday.com.
Contrast the hint of
flowers with the attack of
weeds. Balance of Spring.
Hints of summer in sunlight
humidity, light and heat.
Then cool like the fall.
Leaves hush instead of rustle,
No hint of winter
Once bare trees are blossoming
Nature's first green is golden.
Not really feeling like spring today in Southern New England! Pretty good sized snowstorm passing through. But I liked the image that these kigo words gave me: Shallow Spring, bush warblers and returning cold.
I tried to work today’s weather in, but it couldn’t happen. The image I chose is one that I have been noticing for several weeks: flocks of small birds in bushes by the trail. They’re a fun and refreshing sight.
Shallow Spring invites
bush warblers; returning cold
can't diminish songs.
Thanks as always to #tankatuesday
For this challenge I used the Kigo list to almost entirely create my poem.
The sharpness of the stars is one of the joys of the season; the quality of darkness intensified by the contrast with pinpoint light.
Bright clear winter moon
Shining with cold and clear stars
Cold and clear frost gleams
As always I enjoy responding to tankstuesday challenges.
The #tankatuesday challenge this week is to write 3 Kimo poems, which have 10/7/6 syllables. Kimo is an Israeli version of the Haiku. The Kigo phrases we were tasked to use are “buying a new calendar”, “winter desolation”, and “trimming the Christmas tree”.
Buying a new calendar wondering
If measuring time causes
Me to lose sight of life.
Frostscapes, snowscapes, beaten down winter paths.
My winter playground, someone's
Winter desolation
Kicking the doorjamb knocks snow off my boots
I bring holly branches for
Trimming the Christmas tree
This poem shows a couple of my thought processes/ philosophies. I do often wonder how measured time puts artificial boundaries on my life. It is hard to shake the conditioning of the hours, days, weeks, months and years. Especially since I work at a school, with the Pavlovian bells ringing each period. I have no idea how to escape this cycle, but I do wonder about the impact of it.
When I saw “Winter desolation” I immediately knew I would flip that on its head. I love winter, especially snowy ones. I enjoy skiing and snowshoeing, but honestly winter hikes are all I need. Me and Anna the dog on the trails, crisp air and unlimited vistas.
Here is a link to my new poetry book, Self of Steam
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.
For this weeks #tankatuesday, I reflected on a flurry that was spinning in the air as I took Anna out for our little walk before bed. I love these small hints of winter, and snow’s crystal nature and dancing ways always fascinate me.
I don’t know about you, but I would take snow over cold rain any day.
The brief snowflakes swirl In a dance of becoming That changes to rain
If you like my poems, I hope you’ll check out my new book Self of Steam. Many of the poems, such as the title verse, are based on mistakes my students made in their writing that suggested poetic images to me. I would love for you to give it a try.
I’m always trying to capture the way snowy branches look woven together. This picture does a decent job of capturing this.
I love the way snow turns the winter forest into a black and white landscape. This beauty is so wonderfully contrasting to the colorful loveliness of spring, summer and fall. Snow takes away the starkness of winter, giving brightness to the otherwise dulled colors.
Also, Anna is a cutie pie.
Mark Bozeman 