Happy Summer Solstice! Welcome to our weekly poetry stars celebration. This week’s challenge was to write our poetry based off of the artwork from Kerfe Roig using one of these forms: haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, haibun, tanka prose, renga, solo renga, chōka, cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, nonet, shadorma, Badger hexastich, Abhanga, & diatelle poetry.

Artwork by Kerfe Roig

Here’s our monthly schedule:

Many thanks to Kerfe for the artwork and to everyone who joined in below:

1.Reena Saxena8.Susan Joy Clark15.Kerfe Roig
2.Selma9.Cheryl16.Colleen Chesebro
3.Trent McDonald10.TJS Sherman17.Ruth E Klein aka Ruthscribbles
4.Myrna Migala11.Elizabeth18.kittysverses
5.willowdot2112.anita dawes19.D. Wallace Peach
6.theindieshe13.Jude20.
7.Jules14.Annette Rochelle Aben  

What a fabulous image we had to work with! Personally, I used all six of my senses to “feel” the magic that slipped into my chōka poetry… and I must add a note about this form. I used rhyme in my poem which is not correct. I couldn’t seem to write the poem without the rhyme, so I called the form “chōka-like,” or “inspired by the chōka form.”

When we create our poems using the Japanese forms, we must stay as true to the rules as possible. However, I see no reason why you can’t get creative… as long as you do not claim the form to be the Japanese form that inspired you. Create & Write On!

There was so much stunning poetry this week. I can’t get over the creativity. When we deal with Ekphrastic challenges we should tune into the feelings the piece of art gives us. Those feelings should be the inspiration for your poetry. It’s not so much what’s in the picture as to how it makes you feel.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: Jules has written a haibun that incorporates what is happening in her day along with some of the feelings (the haiku portions) she received from the artwork.

I was really taken with Elizabeth’s tanka. Here’s what she says in her post: “My first thought when I looked at this artwork was about a party in the sky, and of course, the moon is the host of the party!” This tanka sings! The pivot, saluting the moon, shows that party in the sky between the constellations and the dancing birds. We get the second meaning by using the pivot and adding the last two lines! I especially loved the creativity of the phrase “the mystical nightdress.”

I selected this Etheree by Annette Rochelle Aben because she doesn’t describe what she sees, she shares how the image made her feel. What an inspiring piece of poetry!

"Within Reach"

there
they were
floating high
in the night air
worlds I sought to touch
sometimes, seeming so close
that all I needed to do
was to stretch as far as I could
and if I closed my eyes while reaching
I could pull myself up to where they were

©2021 Annette Rochelle Aben

This week, I’ve asked Annette to choose the Ekphrastic photo prompt for next month’s challenge. Please email your image to me at least a week before the challenge to tankatuesdaypoetry@gmail.com. Thanks.

Don’t forget to connect with the Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse at wordweavingpoetryjournal.com to learn the theme of this first journal. Submissions are open until July 15, 2021. Follow Word Weaving on Twitter @word_weaving.

See you tomorrow for the new challenge!

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