Colleen’s 2019 #Tanka Tuesday #Poet of the Week & Honorable Mention, No. 158, #PhotoPrompt

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Happy Winter Solstice, everyone!

Welcome to the Tanka Tuesday Poetry Recap featuring the Poet of the Week and the honorable mention poetry from last week’s challenge. 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.

Remember… the challenge is on holiday break for the rest of 2019. Enjoy your time off. We will resume on January 7, 2020.

I want to take this time to thank you all for participating in this challenge and making it the success that it is. I look forward to joining in on several of your challenges this coming year.

I’m updating the blog toward my love of syllabic poetry and flash fiction. WordPress is busy updating things too. I’ve struggled to get this post up. Just so you know, I changed my theme because the Jetpack mobile theme option will expire in March 2020. Since I was updating things, I thought it was best to do now. Now you will be able to view my posts on your mobile devices. I chose the Astra theme as it had a mobile theme built into it. Many of the themes on WordPress.org aren’t mobile-ready. I’ve also added the PDF Poster plugin. You will now be able to download various PDFs from my site. Enjoy.

[pdf id=36955]

And, don’t forget to visit the challenge post comments 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.

Congratulations, and many thanks to all the participants! Merril Smith sure picked an interesting photo this week. I thought the piece in the middle was ice, but later I found out from H. R. R. Gorman, that the blue stuff was a substance called aerogel. Check out his Shadorma poem for more information: Salvation.

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 Willow Willers as the Poet of the Week for her Etheree, below.

She said, “I have chosen to do an Etheree. I looked up the photo. It’s described as a flower on a piece of aerogel which is protecting the flower from a Bunsen burner. I see my soul as the flower, the aerogel as my Guardian Angel, and the Bunsen burner as the sins of the world.”

I liked Willow’s vision in this piece. She was able to look past the obvious to connect her feelings to the image. Her Etheree flows with the power of short phrases that give us a sense of the imagery from the photo without describing the flower, the aerogel, and the Bunsen burner. I also like the emotions she interjects into the poem.

“Protection,” #Etheree

My

Soul held

In your care

Shielded with love

From the fires of hell

You keep me safe from sin

My beloved guardian

However intense the danger

Your wings keep me safe from the world’s harm

You care for me and I bathe in your calm.

©2019 Willow Willers

That means Willow picks the image for the January 21, 2020 challenge. Please email your pick with image credits to tankatuesdaypoetry@gmail.com at least one week in advance.

Honorable Mention(s)

Next, I want to share a Haiku written by Fran, from Brew & Spew. She posted this lovely piece in the comments.

Look at how perfect this Haiku is… take the first two lines and read them together. Then, take the middle line and last line and read them together. In each instance, there is a separate thought – related yet, different.

Also, look up the word mesmeric. When we’re counting syllables, every word must count toward our meaning. I can’t think of a better word to use for greater impact than mesmeric.

petals kissed in red
blessed with mesmeric beauty
postured graciously

©2019 Fran, Brew & Spew

Happy Yule from me to you! See you in January!

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