Another tanka for Frank’s haikai challenge for this week, about or alluding to fall foliage.
Reds and oranges, browns:
Are these of the leaves falling
From trees, to the ground?
It is the smoke in the air,
The dead brush and greedy flame.
This is written for Frank’s haikai challenge #3. We are writing about fall foliage (hence the title of this post) and can either use those words or reference the image. I wrote a tanka based on one of my experiences several autumns ago, compared with today.
A sad September:
Broken heart, falling leaves, these
Barren trees aren’t dead,
This was years ago, and now,
I know beauty’s in the cold.
I need to connect —
In the fall, trees without leaves
Teach me honesty.
This was written for Ronovan Writes’s haiku challenge number 170. I just discovered this site and am happy to have found it. This week, the words are heart and need, or a synonym of those words.
I was rather bewildered by the poetics prompt at DVerse this week, which is about either the inside or outside of our refrigerator. My family’s current refrigerator has no magnets on it, which is a contrast with how it was in my childhood. I think this could be extended as a metaphor for children being more open and honest and people “growing up” and assimilating, at the expense of their true self. Without any further ado, here is my poem, inspired unexpectedly by my refrigerator!
My fridge has a blank chrome face,
For magnets and papers there is no place,
In childhood it was different:
We had many magnets, and assent
To show our family’s personality.
My fridge looks perfect; I prefer verity.
For DVerse’s MTB this week. Our topic is sleep.
We had no constraints or guidelines as far as form or rhyme scheme, and I decided to write a haibun.
My eyes, and your eyes, are windows through which we see souls. Connections. Hopes. Dreams. Lift the curtains of sleep. Make smaller the space between.
Blue as a clear sky,
Clean as springs from melting snows,
To see, to live dreams.
If, as Shakespeare says,
Music be the food of love,
May my fingers on ebony and ivory
Piano keys sprinkle salt and pepper,
May my voice offer a variety
Of spices, creating flavor with the skill
Of a professional chef,
Blending two hearts together.
This week’s quadrille word was spice.
Time for another poem! This one was written in response to DVerse’s challenge, Rein ’em in. The challenge is to use the words “rain/rein/reign” in a poem and to have a positive tone. Overachiever that I am, I did my best to use all three words. This is also inspired by WordPress’s daily prompt, which was the word “Disobey.”
Rain on a dark-gray day
Is a symbol of sadness,
Some say; I’d prefer
To disobey. The weather
Should not reign over
Anyone’s emotions. I’ll stay
Sane, be free,
And hold the reins.
