Tag Archives: challenge

Weekly #Tanka Tuesday – Challenge #72

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This is my poem for Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge.
The (no)prompt words were breakthrough and movement. I used gain for breakthrough and stirring+shifting for movement.

Once again, the picture was taken by my husband on last Saturday’s walk through Weingartener Moor – a marsh near Karlsruhe, Germany.

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~Heart, watch your step~

Treacherous prospects,
Just off the path, beckon me,
Stirring and shifting,
Luring me with foolish gain.
Head, hold my step, hold my step!

Keep me safe and sane,
Above the tricky mire,
Where false desire
Threatens to lead me astray.
Heart, watch your step, watch your step!

Sometimes we stall, procrastinate, dally…and wonder how fast a day, a week, a month goes by. But even more often, we try to do too many things at once instead of focussing on one thing, the actual goal, savoring it to the fullest.
Sure, the possibilities creeping up along the path are tempting. That’s life. Sometimes opportunities are too good to pass on. But still, we need to apply caution when and where to deviate from the plotted path as to not get lost.

 

Weekly Poetry Challenge – Qunituple #Tanka

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For me, Colleen’s weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge has been a source of joy for some weeks now, but this week it has been hard.
In the face of the horrific events in Florida and the unbelievable indifferent reaction of so many US politicians (and citizens), I couldn’t but reach out across the ocean and show my solidarity with the people of Parkland and I dedicate this poem to the students of Stoneman Douglas Highschool. I can’t even begin to grasp what they are going through. May the dead rest in peace, and may the survivors of this gruesome act find the strength to carry on and lead the US out of this mess.

The prompt words for the 71st challenge were: Affection and Character. I used thoughts & kindness for affection and puppet & spirit for character.

 

~Awoken~

Apathy’s henchmen
Send thoughts and prayers your way.
Rancid, callous tools
on puppet strings, offering
Drops to quench an inferno.

The world ought to stop!
Instead, keeps turning, turning.
Relentless sorrow—
Even shared a thousandfold
Still fails to lessen the pain.

I see you weeping,
Tender heart and broken soul.
I see you craving
For yesterday’s lost kindness,
Gone, but never forgotten.

In awe, I behold
Your spirit’s awakening.
From pain to passion—
Horror reshaped to resolve,
I see your courage rising.

Furious voices
Give birth to a roaring choir,
Demanding action.
I hear you! I hear your call
And amplify your message.

Weekly Poetry Challenge – a #Tanka

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I’m a mom of two girls and to me, it’s pure wonder seeing them grow up and develop into individuals with distinct ideas and traits. They grow so fast and the day will come when they are ready to leave our house. On the one hand, I look forward to it. On the other, I wish I could keep them with me, protect them for eternity.

This week’s prompt words were bond and seek. Somehow these words immediately stirred an old memory. The memory of a picture I took years ago… I wanted to share it for this week’s installment of Colleen’s Tanka Challenge. I had some trouble reactivating that long forgotten Flickr account but managed in the end.

So here it is. Wintry day, some unknown trail in Bavarian woods, and my excited daughter.

I just love her open expression and the sheer joy of handling such mundane thing as an old fir branch. It always reminds me that children have a special view of the world around them, one that we as adults have often ceased to experience. We often skim over the details where for them everything is exciting, new, and fascinating. Through my girls, I got a glimpse of that world once more.

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~Forgotten Perspective~

Through your eyes I see
The world awash with wonder.
Anchored here, I watch
In awe. Your winged soul takes flight,
Chasing dreams, probing limits.

Children are our legacy. But all we can do is to accompany them for a while, make the joined part of the journey as happy and secure as possible and prepare them, so they are ready when they leave us to follow their own paths.

Weekly #Tanka challenge

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It’s time for this week’s installment of Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge. You can see last week’s Tanka here. The prompt words for this week are: myth and write.

I had started on a little something about death and sorrow and loss, but then I went on an early hike with my husband yesterday.  The lovely morning in the woods inspired the following triple Tanka instead. I’ve no idea if the concept of a triple Tanka even exists, but I found I was not done with the poem after one stanza, so I just added two more. Hope you enjoy it—and the picture my husband took, too. The picture was taken on the morning of January, 27th on our way to the ruins of Castle Wegelnburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany on the border to France.

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~Slopes, Immersed in White Mist~

Enchanted forest,
I savor your mystic air.
Dew. Haze. Lacy rays.
The morning inks ancient tales
Of new life on dappled ground.

My breath’s a wet cloud.
But sunlight’s fingers reach out,
Warming my cold face.
Empty trails and byways are
Glittering with silent mist.

The new day’s aura
Is ripe with sweet memories
Of forgotten days.
And I remember verses,
once lost—but now born anew.

 

 

Colleen’s weekly poetry challenge; a #Tanka

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More poetry! It’s on my 2018 to-do list. Read more poetry, write more poetry. So here we go: I start with Colleen’s challenge.

I found Colleen’s blog last Tuesday and she’s hosting a weekly poetry challenge. To be precise, this week she’s hosting the 67th weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge. Rules are easy: write a Tanka (or Haiku, or Haibun, or…) poem. Including synonyms of two given prompt words in the text.

The prompt words for this week are: play and guess – synonyms only. I used riddle for play and clue for guess. And here’s my (first) Tanka.

~Uplifted~

If love’s a riddle,
Don’t ever tell me the clue.
My captured heart soars,
Airborne with sweet elation,
And I escape into bliss.

That’s it. My first Tanka. What do you think?

Hope to join again next week for tanka-tuesday