writing

Shadorma Challenge #tankatuesday

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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

Time tied together

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I wrote this in my journal a while back. The idea I’m going for is holding on to the valuable lessons and patterns I have learned, and not just using them for today, but making sure I keep focused on them in the future. This creates a deep pattern in my actions, and that makes it easier for me to accomplish my goals.

Beauty of death and decay

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Yesterday, I wrote about how a carpet of yellow pine needles helped me understand the idea of the individual within a greater unity.  

I kept wanting to write about the decay aspect of the pine needles. After all, they are coating the ground because they have fallen. Though they were once growing, attached to twig branch and bole, now they lay where they fell. 

I didn’t write about it because it led me to a different concept. We all are familiar with the circle of life, and we know that death and decay are part of it. But I like examples, they make me think of the deeper parts of a general idea. 

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The end of numbers

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When the relevance of numbers disappears, that’s oneness.  

I thought of this while walking a path bathed in yellow pine needles. With the word “bathed”, I’m trying to express the expanse of the needles. Pressed under my feet, stretching behind me and ahead. Blanketing the woods to either side. Stretching in every direction beyond my view.  

I think of the process of counting each one. I try to glimpse meaning beyond the absurdity of the task. Absurd because how long would it take to even count the number in ten square feet, never mind the huge expanse in Great Pond State Forest?

When the relevance of numbers disappears, that’s oneness.  

The idea is attempting to express the woven unity of this carpet of needles. A vast, interlinked skein. Yes, made of individual shafts, but the repetition speaks to me a giant tan fabric. Is not fabric made of many connected threads? 

Envisioning this helps me better understand the Taoist concept of merging the truth of individuality within the connection of totality. Losing numbers in this small world of pine needles, that are losing their color and returning to the earth, connects me to the immense unity that I am apart from and a part of. 

Reverse Cinquain for #tankatuesday

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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.