Tag: #tanka

TankaTuesday#4

Hello! It is time for Colleen’s #TankaTuesday challenge where the rules are to to write in any of the 24 syllabic forms of Japanese poetry using a kigo or season word as an inspiration. While there are 24 seasons in Japan, we are allowed to use season words as per our region.

But before I begin, I am very chuffed that Colleen was kind enough to choose my previous entry as the poem of the week and couldnt resist sharing. Yayy and thank you again Colleen 🙂

Now off to the tanka of this week. First the tanka and then the explanatory note. Perhaps, some of you may not need the note 🙂

Navratri

going to office on

an empty stomach

they join the

bhandara queue

I have used Navratri (literally nine-nights) as the ‘kigo’ word for this tanka. In India, we are currently celebrating Navratri and today is day 3 of the festival. Navaratri is a bi-annual Hindu festival observed in honour of the Mother Goddess Durga and many devotees keep a fast during this period. A bhandara is a mass feast given to the needy by the Hindus, particularly in North India on auspicious occasions such as the Navratri.

Here’s wishing you all a very auspicious and happy Navratras to you and yours. 🙏

WLC#40: A Circular Rainbow

Hello, hope you are having a great day. Today, I am participating in the challenge hosted by XingfuMama which is about Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge – It could be anything: a picture or you can go into detail and tell it as a reflection, story or poem.

So it’s a picture with some detail, processing and a poem 🙂

Recently while on an early morning flight, I was surprised and delighted to see a rainbow that was a circle. Frankly, I had never really thought about it before and always considered the rainbow to be a semi-circle (with a pot of gold at the end) 😀

Apparently, a circular rainbow is a very rare sight, requiring sky conditions to be “just right.” Without any further ado, ta da….

Amazing isn’t it? While this is the original photo, I couldn’t help playing around with the brightness, contrast etc.

Which one do you like better?

Also posting a tanka inspired by this – hope you like

flying high –

the rainbow has no

pot of gold

traveling far and wide I find it

on my couch

Do let me know your thoughts – thanks for visiting and have a super week.

TankaTuesday #1

Good day to everyone. Another attempt to write tanka while participating in Colleen’s #TankaTuesday challenge where the rules are to to write in any of the 24 syllabic forms of Japanese poetry using a kigo or season word as an inspiration. While there are 24 seasons in Japan, we are allowed to use season words as per our region.

I hope I have understood the rules 🙂

I belong to India and the monsoon season is still lingering around, although I believe it has begun its, albeit belated, withdrawal.

a monsoon shower –

hanging on the long clothesline

sparkling diamonds

thieves break-in to find my cache

of dripping garments

So monsoon is my kigo. While the tanka is not exactly 5/7/5/7/7 syllables, I believe a total of 31 syllables or less is also acceptable. Am I right? Did this work? I also wasnt sure if I was supposed to include the image. Would love to know your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

Thanks for visiting and reading. Have a super day.

MWWP: Tanka #1

Hello and a very good day to you. I am attempting to participate in Eugi’s Moonwashed Musings Weekly Prompt – Gingered Sky. It can be any variation of the prompt or the image (below). Click here to read the other entries on the prompt.

I am attempting to present a Tanka inspired by the image. For the uninitiated (and also for myself as I struggle to grasp the finer nuances) Tanka is a popular Japanese form of poetry that is a total of 31 syllables or less separated into 5 lines. Tanka are not (necessarily rhyming) poems about seasons, nature, desires, mood or emotions, using literary devices, such as personification, metaphors etc. Tanka is characterized by a turn, known as the pivot (third line), which marks a sudden shift from one image to that of another such as a personal reference.

The haiku on the other hand is a Japanese poem with three lines of not more than 17 syllables usually referencing a season with a twist or an ‘aha’ moment in the final like.

It also may be noted that the Japanese form of poetry avoids the use of titles and capitalization of any word. If I may add, that since this is a very short poem, each word is important and may hold different connotations and perhaps best read slowly, absorbing while picturizing what each word is trying to paint/convey. Otherwise, one tends to miss the ‘aha’ moment. At least, that has been my learning.

More than a decade ago, when I first developed an interest in writing, I had dabbled in haiku and tanka forms before switching to fiction writing. Once again, I am going where the muse leads me. Thank you for your company on this journey.

twilight –

the sun sets on another day

reflections

of all that which could

have been

***

I struggled with these five lines for over five hours. Seriously. I gave up and posted this. What do you think? Does it work as a tanka? Any suggestions? I am open to constructive criticism. Do let me know. Thanks. Have a great day 🙂