I’ll keep it short today. Here’s my contribution to Colleen’s 70th weekly #Tanka challenge. The week’s prompt words were destiny and challenge. Enjoy.
~Take Heart~
Opportunity.
Risk and promise intertwined.
I dare you, seize it!
Your courage lifts new hope
From future’s murky waters.
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.
~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.
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.
January 2018
~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.
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 
Katja Rammer 