#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 247 | #SynonymsOnly: Twilight & Hue

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

POETRY NEWS

Pure Haiku OPEN to submissions! Pure Haiku is once again OPEN to submissions on the theme of Ghostlight. The deadline is midnight (UK Time) on 31st October 2021. Please use the image on Pure Haiku to inspire you to write a maximum of 5 traditional haiku! Don’t miss this opportunity to get your poetry published on Pure Haiku! Please read the submission requirements carefully. Good luck!

Word Weaving #1: A Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse (Kindle) purchase link

The Moons of Autumn: A Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse (print) purchase link

Welcome to our weekly poetry stars’ celebration. This week’s challenge was to choose synonyms for the words, “twilight and hue,” 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, the Kerf poetry, and any of the syllabic forms from the Poetscollective.org.

Many thanks to the poetry stars who joined in below:

1.Reena Saxena9.Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr17.Donna Matthews
2.Elizabeth10.Cheryl18.Gwen Plano
3.Selma11.The Versesmith19.Kerfe
4.Francis the Frenchie12.Eugenia20.Laura McHarrie
5.willowdot2113.D. L. Finn21.Sally Cronin
6.Harmony Kent14.TJS Sherman22.theindieshe
7.Annette Rochelle Aben15.wildchild4723.You’re next!
8.Jules16.Ruth Klein  

I was overjoyed at all the amazing poetry this week. There were so many new forms. What was really exciting, was to see how many of you worked on imagery in your poetry. When we are forced to look for synonyms for the prompt words it helps us find words that are more expressive.

Did you know the word hue had another meaning? Checkout the Versesmith’s poem.

Because we work with syllable counts, that always affects your word choice. But how many of us (I’m guilty of this too) have used a word with “ing” added just to fulfill the word count? The “ing” ending does nothing to the word to help us visualize that moment in time we have captured. Instead, we need to concentrate on using words that evoke our six senses.

“Imagery is the concrete representation of a sense impression, feeling, or idea that triggers our imaginative ere-enactment of a sensory experience. Images may be visual (something seen), aural (something heard), tactile (something felt), olfactory (something smelled), or gustatory (something tasted). Imagery may also refer to a pattern of related details in a poem.“

Elements of Poetry: University of New Mexico

The same goes for other filler words that don’t express action. We should all make a habit to choose more expressive words and descriptions. I’ve started keeping a notebook with a page for each thing I want to describe. Take the word “sky” and start writing different descriptions you can use for your poetry or other writing. Play with the words, make new words if you can. Try out different combinations of words.

I chose WildChild47’s (Pocket Poems et. al) poems to highlight this week, because of the exquisite wordplay and imagery she chose. Look at some of these descriptions… I’ve highlighted them. ❤

"chroma dye cast hour"


Dimmet

crow
pecks at
crab apple,
a blushing bride

stars wink back-lit bright
open India ink sky
as rustling wings clatter by
this eve a long stain

one held aloft
in soft palms
a plum
rich
blue bruise
forever
ignites delight

a warming belly
this sangria jam-jar dream
flushes in blueberries’ scheme
flamenco dances

in mid-sky flight
a scrape, smear
calling
out
look up
look beyond
the old witched hour

when a broken rib
served a cocktail for the girl
Eve forsake her name, a whirl
a kiss on his lips

sweet black bird stain
appetite
comes home;
dusk

Arkquain Swirl: Syllabic: 1234~5775~4321234~5775~4321234~5775~4321
*7 syllable lines end rhyme ; titled + centered

Iris is
half-light complexion
dusk dancer
phthalo blue
silver edged petals aglow
fireflies come calling

Shadorma: A non-rhyming, six line poem (sestina) with the following syllable count: 3/5/3/3/7/5.

"This Dying Light"

Feeling the blue genes, kneeling in the garden, denim is a reference point, saturating the sky. Looking up, it’s time to eat the raspberry swirl sun. Take it in-mouth, in-house, letting it infuse every water molecule in my body’s composition; the moon milk-bathes herself ready, before the curtain rises, just as the stars flick-on, the bats tilt-a-whirl tipsy, gulping bugs. I dissolve like salt in hot water, wondering who conducts this orchestra.

in the afterglow
I shadowbox with my eyes
a blue bruise creases
logic’s suggestion tinting
the in-between hour

Tanka would be a 5-line, 5-7-5-7-7 syllable poem.
While imagery is still important in tanka, the form is a little more conversational than haiku at times. It also allows for the use of poetic devices such as metaphor and personification; Tanka prose contains a title. One basic requirement: one paragraph, and one tanka. There are two basic forms in classic tanka prose: Preface (explanation), and the Poem Tale (episodic narration). No rhyming.

Eventide is
the begging sun, on its knees, a suggestion of a fruit-stained plate, in hand, smeared mouth wanting –

cricket song in the long grass chimes

The one-bun was invented by Jim Kacian. The one-bun is an ultra-short haibun which has just one line of prose (including the title) and a (one-line) haiku.

© WildChild47

This week, I’ve asked WildChild47 to choose the two prompt words for next month’s Synonyms Only challenge. Please email your words to me at least a week before the challenge to tankatuesdaypoetry@gmail.com. Thanks.

See you tomorrow for the new #TankaTuesday Challenge

21 thoughts on “#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 247 | #SynonymsOnly: Twilight & Hue”

      1. I had submitted there before—but only one haiku…. now I know. And I kept getting her mixed up with failed haiku. I thought I had submitted there… maybe he was promoting her? 🤦🏻‍♀️

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

        1. Probably… he was promoting her. He’s the guy who got mad and said I didn’t know how to write Japanese poetry by teaching the 5-7-5 structure. He was quite rude. But, he set me on my quest to learn more, and I did, and wrote Word Craft: Prose & Poetry… a book! So, there’s a positive that came out of the entire situation. ❤

          Liked by 1 person

          Reply

  6. Wow – I’m so surprised you choose my poems Colleen – I’m chuffed and a bit embarrassed too. That’s just how I am. At any rate, thank you – and I appreciate how you’ve decided to feature them, to use them as a “teaching tool” or “reminder lesson” – as you’ve said, we’re all guilty of falling into different word traps and ruts – and in some senses (pardon the pun) I think that really condensed syllabic poetry forms makes it that much easier to just “plug in” to fill – so all ways we can spend time culling ideas, images, imprints to better our word crafting is useful 🙂

    So I’ll be making a word list in prep for next month, thinking and tinkering ….. before reminding myself to email you with it.

    And cheers to everyone who played along this week – I found it really interesting, as Colleen noted, that forcing the use of synonyms somehow shook people loose a bit in their styles and explorations. I’ve enjoyed the words/poems 🙂

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    1. Thanks so much, my friend. Please don’t be embarrassed. We all learn together in this challenge. I was stunned when I read your poems. I read them over and over! The imagery was so rich and rewarding to read. Because of syllabic poetry’s brevity we need to pay attention to our word-play. There’s plenty of room to indulge our senses… which you have done. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over “sangria jam-jar dream…” Wowser! I like how you said you ruminate over your poem for a few days. That’s what everyone should do… tweak until it sings. I can’t wait to see what you write next week!! ❤

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      1. time – it’s the essential tool in the word crafting bag; always – everything needs time to sit for a bit, so we can distance our brains – which may be inflamed in excitement of the craft/ideas – it’s the distancing that allows for us to see how we can edit, improve, play with things, shake them up, change etc. Of course we have to decide/choose which ones (poems) to work with more, those we’re just happy to let be foot loose and fancy free as they are and then, whatever in the middle-ground, the in-between – lots of shades, tints and hues – but yes, expansion in mind, imagination, word play and time … tends to give back richer poetry

        we’ll see where the muse lands?! 😉

        Liked by 1 person

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        1. Yes! That is it exactly. When we rush to push the publish button we’re just churning out “mindfill.” It’s never our best work until we let it sit. This challenge is almost a week long. There is plenty of time to ruminate our craft. ❤

          Liked by 1 person

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          1. a bit like quick sketches – the churnings – …. which works as starters, appetizers … but you’re right, there’s time to let things rest up …. so we can then decide on the mains 😉 (I’m hungry, I think – 😅 – for more than poetry)

            Liked by 1 person

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