in looming darkness
thoughts once abandoned
plague this worried soul
nothing is as it seems
haunted by my past
This gogyohka is my response to Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry
Challenge No. 244 #Ekphrastic #PhotoPrompt,
with the art provided by Merril D. Smith.
Image source: Free Library of Philadelphia – Visitor to Germantown by Benton Spruance
(click image for larger view in new tab)
Desolation
Rock and snow my prison cell
Stranded in the midst of beauty
Blue waves and sky no consolation
Thoughts of rescue from this desolation
Now as distant as a passing ship,
With its snapping sails
A faint syncopation
Against the murmur of swans
Taunting me from afar
The freedom of their aerial maneuvers
Bringing only profound sadness
Each passing day
The spark of hope dimmer
Until frozen
Splintering, shattering
Finally gone
“Desolation” has it’s roots in a poem I wrote for a prompt from Jane Dougherty and subsequently edited for The Ekphrastic Review, where it was published in October 2018. It was inspired by In the Blue Expanse, by Arkady Rylov, and can be found here.
Shared with OpenLinkNight #299 at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
Juneteenth
Joy has the power
to lift the shadows of sorrow.
Though they may persist,
they do not cancel
celebration, which has a power
of its own. To own that
is an expression of freedom.
The sculpture above, titled “Adjacent,” is by Chad La Fever and is being dedicated Sunday as part of Juneteenth celebrations in Jefferson City, Missouri (the state capital). The sculpture, made from silicon bronze with a clear lacquer seal and wax, stands about 7 feet tall and is one of many planned for Community Park in the Historic Foot District Area Sculpture Series, a focus on the experiences of African American Jefferson City residents during the world wars and segregation. About the sculpture, the artist says,
“The sculpture is a commentary on segregated co-existence and represents the very different lives of Black and white people living near one another, yet worlds apart. “Both figures are standing together in familiar and intimate proximity, but a wide gulf existing between the figures prevents them from being fully engaged. With heads hung and nearly in contact, there is a sense of sadness, hesitation and resignation. But there is also the feeling that the two figures are coming together with the intention of moving forward.”
Upper image by mi esposa
A simple offering of love is given without hesitation.
Curbed enthusiasm leaves little opportunity for advancement.
Buoyed by enthusiasm, a fisherman’s net gain is realized.
Sanaa is hosting Poetics: Exploring the realm of Minimalist Photography at dVerse ~ Poets Pub and offers twelve photos by Glenn Butkus taken from his Facebook page, SOUTH SOUND MINIMALIST PHOTOS, as inspiration for poetry. I have chosen to write an American Sentence for each of three photos.
The American Sentence was created by Allen Ginsberg
~ loose American form of haiku, with 17 syllables
~ represented as a sentence
~ reference to a season is not required
~ similar to senryū
~ read more here & here
Each Turn
No potter, I
can only hope this vessel
is worthy of your affection.
With each turn of the wheel,
each minute, hour, that passes,
it beats only for you.
This poem is my response to Sunday Muse #164,
with the image provided by The Sunday Muse.
My initial reaction to Colleen’s Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 229 #SynonymsOnly, where the words offered are dawn and twilight (to be replaced with synonyms), was to write a haiku.
morning light
anticipated
with sunset
Instead, I decided to write a chōka.
Anticipation
sailboats at anchor
in the waning evening light
long day on the lake
lapping of waves against hulls
sound of buoys rings
air of anticipation
to feel wind in morning’s light
light of setting sun
brings a night of quiet rest
morning light arrives
waves ripple in reflection
as the cycle continues
Chōka, a Japanese long poem written primarily from the 6th to the 14th century. Chōka have alternating lines of 5 and 7 syllables and an indefinite length (from 7 to 149 lines), ending with an added 7 syllable line. So, 5-7-5-7-5-7-…7, and a length allowing greater themes.
Chōka often were followed by one or more short poems called hanka, or “envoys,” summarizing, supplementing, or elaborating on, the contents of the main poem. Sometimes, a tanka would serve as an envoy, and that is what I have written here.
Man’yōshū (“Collection of a Myriad Leaves”) is the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry (from some time after AD 759) and contains 4,536 waka (classical Japanese poetry). 265 of those are chōka (long poems). The 1940/1965 edition of The Man’yōshū: One Thousand Poems (a translation) is available for download as a PDF from Internet Archive and is some pretty interesting reading.
Image: sunset on the Niagara River at Lake Ontario, Youngstown, New York
(click image for larger view in new tab)
Subtlety
Thoughts that seek to sort a tangled web
or follow a scent to its conclusion
have no beginning and no end,
hold no guarantee of entry. Subtlety
in a furrowed brow will not answer
your questions, posed or unasked,
instead offers confusion
in the complexity it wraps around itself.
This poem is my response to Eugi’s Causerie Weekly Prompt – Mingle,
inspired by the image used in the prompt.
Image source: pixabay.com / ShonEjai
with the years that have passed
greater than those left to come
moments once frozen in time
blend one into another
as memories become a blur
This gogyohka is my response to Colleen Chesebro’s #Tanka Tuesday
Weekly #Poetry Challenge No. 226 #Ekphrastic #Photoprompt,
with the photo provided by Trent McDonald.
Gogyohka (pronounced go-gee-yoh-kuh)
~ a form of Japanese poetry pioneered by Enta Kusakabe in the 1950s
~ 5-line poetry ~ like tanka, but with freedom from restraints
~ no fixed syllable requirement
~ no conventions regarding content
~ brief lines in keeping with the tradition of Japanese short verse
the heavens know
there is a light
in your embrace
Image source: Astronomy Picture of the Day – NGC602
social distancing
under travel restrictions
streetcar to nowhere
Off prompt for Day 21 at napowrimo.net, this senryū is my response to Colleen’s #Tanka Tuesday Weekly#Poetry Challenge No. 222 #Ekphrastic #PhotoPrompt.
~ Day 21 ~
Image source: mollyroselee at Pixabay
