Colleen’s 2019 #Tanka Tuesday #Poet of the Week & Honorable Mention(s), No. 146, #SynonymsOnly

Posted byColleen M. ChesebroPosted inTanka Tuesday Poetry ChallengesTags:, , , , , , , ,

Welcome to the Tanka Tuesday Poetry Recap featuring the Poet of the Week and any honorable mention poetry that really caught my eye. If you would like to participate in this challenge, you can learn the rules in the menu item called Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Guidelines.

Image by lisa runnels from Pixabay

I’ve moved my site to the WordPress Business Plan. The re-blog button does not feature in this plan. I’m working on installing the “Press-This” button to my posts. Please bear with me during this transition. ❤

Congratulations, and many thanks to all the participants! Please visit the challenge post comments HERE and HERE where you’ll find the links to everyone’s poetry. Stop by and say hello! ❤

I will publish the Poet of the Week and Honorable Mention Poets in the 2019 Poet of the Week Anthology, which everyone can grab as a FREE PDF in January 2020.

Each week, I like to highlight a poet who I call the Poet of the Week who has shared an exceptional message or shown impassioned creativity through words or form. Poetry is all about perception. You may not feel the same way about my choice. That’s okay. Perception is different for all of us.

This week, I’ve selected three different syllabic forms. It’s fun to see the different syllables used and how those selections change the meaning of the words.

The Poet of the Week

This week, I’ve chosen H. R. R. Gorman as the Poet of the Week for his Haibun/Cinquain poem featured below. I see he followed the Haibun directions to a tee! Here are my observations.

Haibun poetry must have a title. Structure your prose with short descriptive paragraphs written in the first person singular. Remember, when you write a Haibun the experience must unfold as if you are observing the occurrence before you.

The poetry portions should never repeat what you’ve already stated in your prose. The poetry should reflect another aspect of your prose. The two pieces are different – yet somehow connected.

The American cinquain is an unrhymed, five-line poetic form—the first line has two syllables, the second has four, the third six, the fourth eight, and the fifth two (2-4-6-8-2).

I also think a Haibun pairs well with any other syllabic form, except a Haiga, which should standalone – Just my opinion. 😀

Gather

I chop down the leaves, and the nicotine haze makes me dizzy. Others in the field do as I, but these older folks have bigger bodies, more mass to spread out the poison. The field is full of people here to help Mr. Clay, who is ill. As I pile the leaves of burley onto the stake, I recall his amputated toes on the gangrenous foot. I mull over the smell of his room, sweet like the sugar in his blood.
I chop, I pile, I sweat, I sing. Whether God takes Mr. Clay home or leaves him here on this soil, I’ll help take his rescued crop to the trade house.

Gather
Friends, family.
Machete burley leaves,
Render service for suffering.
Harvest.

©2019 H. R. R. Gorman

Honorable Mention(s)

The first Honorable Mention is for Sally Cronin and her double Etheree poem featured below. Etheree poetry gives the poet more syllables to use, which allows for a free flowing of thoughts and word images.

Etheree poetry should contain a memorable message. In this poem, Autumn features prominently as the dying season in the first stanza (10 lines). The second stanza talks of rebirth after the long winter and the beauty still to come in spring.

The comparison between the two (autumn and the approaching rebirth of spring) links the poet’s feelings into something readers can understand.

A Celebration

The
autumn
is a time
to celebrate
what has gone before
and what is yet to come.
As gold leaves drop from trees
and roses lose their petals,
the natural world boosts defences
against the harsh winds and frosts of winter.
But, beneath frozen earth new life will stir
as mother nature prepares for spring,
nurturing seeds and unborn young
as she has since time began.
Her wisdom is unmatched,
even when humans
attempt to thwart
her efforts
to gift
life.

© 2019 Sally G. Cronin

My last Honorable Mention is to Dorinda Duclos and her Shadorma featured below. There are no rules as to a title for this syllabic form, and the poet used the challenge words instead.

The Shadorma is a poetic form consisting of a six-line stanza (or sestet). The syllable count (3/5/3/3/7/5) concentrates on a specific subject. Here, the subject is learning to trust oneself. For me, the brevity of words in this poem deepens the message—short, sweet, and to the point!

Fall & Give

I must learn
When to take the plunge
To conquer
Obstacles
Yet, entrust myself wholly
To heed the lesson

© 2019 Dorinda Duclos

I hope this deep dive into the different forms the poets chose helps to reaffirm how easy it is to write syllabic poetry. Try it! The new challenge comes out tomorrow! See you there…

Published by Colleen M. Chesebro

An avid reader, Colleen M. Chesebro rekindled her love of writing poetry after years spent working in the accounting industry. These days, she loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction. In addition to poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on Word Craft Poetry.com by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry. Chesebro is an assistant editor of The Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology & Gitty Up Press, a micro-press founded by Charli Mills and Carrot Ranch. In January 2022, Colleen founded Unicorn Cats Publishing Services to assist poets and authors in creating eBooks and print books for publication. In addition, she creates affordable book covers for Kindle and print books. Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.

46 thoughts on “Colleen’s 2019 #Tanka Tuesday #Poet of the Week & Honorable Mention(s), No. 146, #SynonymsOnly”

  1. All of these are most worthy of your merit Colleen. And I feel your winner is most deserving of the weekly award. It created vivid images .
    Hope you had a lovely weekend.
    Much love 💖from a very wet England 🌧️☔🚣

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      1. Thank you you again Colleen, Congratulations to esp. H. R. R. Gorman winner and Sally Cronin and Dorinda Duclas, Honourable Mentions, I hope to contribute this week 💜💜

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        1. Sally, I moved to the WordPress Business Plan, that is why it doesn’t show. Also, I’m going to start a weekly post about how to use the new editor. Fingers crossed that helps other to learn how to use it. ❤

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