Welcome to the Tanka Tuesday Poetry Recap featuring the Poet of the Week and the honorable mention poetry that deserved another read. 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.

Hi everyone. I’m really thrilled about how easy it was for us to see everyone’s poetry in the comments. It’s an extra step again, but it allows everyone to see each other’s poetry in one place – attached to the challenge post. Thanks to Sally Cronin for such a great idea!!

Let’s continue to add our poetry to the comments. Remember… as of January 2020 I won’t be doing a weekly recap. I’ve got lots of fun heading our way, so keep taking part in the challenges. ❤

If you are new to my blog, your comment will have to wait to be approved. Depending on where you live, that could be an eight hour or more time difference from my location in Arizona. I schedule my posts around midnight so my followers from around the world have an opportunity to see them in a timely fashion. Don’t panic.

Congratulations, and many thanks to all the participants! I gave you all some tough

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

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.

The Poet of the Week

This week, I’ve chosen H. R. R. Gorman for his double Etheree, “Mama Grace,” to be the Poet of the Week.

The Etheree is a wonderful choice for when you want to tell a tell a story using a syllabic form. Combine two together (Etheree & reversed Etheree) for more impact.

H.R.R. tells us the story of Mama Grace, using synonyms for the challenge words. I feel the fragility of humanity through his choice of words (deaf, dumb, poor, barren, etc.). He grabs the raw and gritty realities of life and splashes them on the page like secrets released in whispers.

There’s a cultural element to his words that show us more than tell us that Mama Grace lives in the south. This adds an old world charm to the theme of the poem.

Mama Grace

She
Lived
With aplomb
Despite trouble
With her sister’s son.
Her sister was deaf, dumb,
And didn’t want pregnancy.
But poor thing didn’t have a choice,
So barren sister Grace took in the boy.
She raised him with joy, with love, with honor.
But he lived in the vein of his father,
Took the mantle of rapist himself,
Then was carted off to prison.
“You spoilt him,” cried folks at church.
“It’s your fault,” they accused.
She couldn’t fight back.
She made some pink
Lemonade,
Sipped,
Cried.

©2019 H.R.R. Gorman

Honorable Mention(s)

Kerfe gets the honorable mention this week for her triple Shadorma, called “Blessings.”

There is something powerful about combining more than one form at a time. I like three verses or poems because it gives you a beginning, a middle, and an end. However many stanzas you decide to choose, make them count!

Kerfe says this poem is about birth and her words reflect that theme. I especially like how each stanza flows into the next until answering the eternal question, “what creates these seas of hope?”

Blessings

consider
the reckless places
hidden in
hearts, shining
like newborn constellations
exploding the dark–

pulled apart
by merciless force,
undefined
gravities–
adrift in the orbits
of recurrent night—

what creates
these seas of hope?–light
ships sailing
on longing–
circumnavigations of
storms searching for ports

©2019 Kerfe Roig

See you tomorrow for the new challenge!