travel plans canceled
roads washed out by heavy rain
a knock at the door
unexpected guests arrive
in shimmer of transporter
This tanka is my response to Carpe Diem Weekend Mediation #93
Carpe Diem’s Utopia … transportation, which challenges us to create
a classical haiku or tanka with a modern theme
(here with an eye to the future).
loss seems forever
in darkness beyond desire
new needs awaken
one heart touches another
the beauty of new love born
Starting as a senryū, this tanka is my response to
Colleen’s 2019 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge
No. 135 #SynonymsOnly, which offers pretty and ugly as prompt words.
I have used “beauty” and “darkness” as synonyms.
Image source: wallpapers13.com
colorful blossom
returning light with beauty
lotus in the sun
clouds drifting across the sky
unable to steal its light
This tanka is my response to
Frank Tassone’s #Haikai Challenge #93: lotus.
Also, with light & beauty as this author’s choice of keywords, this is a response to
Colleen’s 2019 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 134.
a man reads the news
considers independence
questions its value
a country of open arms
building walls on its borders
This tanka is a response to
Frank Tassone’s #Haikai Challenge #92: Independence,
in which Frank discusses Independence Day in the United States and how it’s seen under
a new light, considering the treatment given to immigrants at the southern border.
Image source: © Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon
Carpe Diem #1671 Tan Renga – lightning flash asks us to use
a haiku by Bashō (in blue) to create a tanka.
lightning flash–
what I thought were faces
are plumes of pampas grass
Bashō
reflecting the many lines
forming on this aging face
Image source: ukiyo-e.org
Japanese Pampas Grass, by Kono Hairei
Carpe Diem #1668 Tan Renga – flower fragrance asks us to use
a haiku by Jane Reichhold (in blue) to create a tanka.
coming to sea cliffs
the off shore breeze raises
a flower fragrance
© Jane Reichhold
joined by rainbow of color
true delight for the senses
Image source: British Museum
Satta Peak, Coast of Oya-shirazu,
by Utagawa Hiroshige
Carpe Diem #1669 Tan Renga – white crane asks us to use a haiku by Kikaku (in blue) – written to comfort Basho shortly before his death – to be used to create a tanka.
How I wish to call
A white crane from Fukei
But for this cold rain
Kikaku
so little light to be found
when under such a dark cloud
Image source: Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Crane Flying over Wave, by Utagawa Hiroshige
