#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 253 #ThemePrompt

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

The Holidays are Approaching

I’ve updated the #TankaTuesday book gallery! Check it out!

Books are splendid gifts to give for the holidays. I’ve read a few articles which said print books are taking longer to make and that Amazon is trying hard to keep up with demands. Shop early and order soon. Support your community writers and poets. I know I am! Email me if you have a poetry book I can add to our #TankaTuesday Book Gallery. The links take you to the poet’s Amazon Author Page, where you can browse their books.

Please support our community poets and buy someone you love a book for the holidays. 📚 ❤️

The next month is going to be a mess at my house! Our first floor renovation is finally going to happen. The old flooring will be torn out with new luxury vinyl planks installed along with new kitchen cabinets and countertops. Ron and I, including Chloe and Sophie, will be living upstairs for the entire month of December. It should be fun to corral two cats so they don’t go downstairs and bother the workers or get out. December 30th, the appliances will finally get reinstalled. Fingers crossed this all goes off without any hitches. We started this process in May… and finally in November the cabinets were delivered to our contractor. Supply line issues will drive us all crazy. I’ll keep the challenges up and we will proceed as usual for the month of December.

Left: Chloe, Right: Sophie

Remember, life happens. We’re all living through extraordinary circumstances in the time of Covid. If you miss a challenge, no worries. Be here when you can. Better yet, make sure to spend time with your families. ❤

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 write our poem based off of the theme of “festive” selected by Franci from Eugi’s Causerie, 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 everyone who joined in below:

1.Reena Saxena6.Jules11.Gwen Plano
2.Trent7.Donna Matthews12.theindieshe
3.Veera8.Sri13.Ruth Klein
4.Annette Rochelle Aben9.anita dawes14.Jane Aguiar
5.Cheryl10.willowdot2115. Literature World

I’m so happy we had all this lovely poetry to read during the Thanksgiving week. Thanks for accepting the challenge and making “festive” with me.

I have to share a couple of links with you. Some of you said the prompt was difficult. Being festive isn’t reserved only for holidays and special occasions. Sometimes as poets, we recognize “festivity” in our everyday lives.

Ruth Klein’s Scribbles senryu shares another meaning of festive.

Sri is new to the challenge but I loved this rendition of festive.

Annette Rochelle Aben shares a slice of #PureMichigan! And…

Trent P. McDonald shows how festive life can be.

So, this week, I went with Willow Willers tanka. Now, tanka poems don’t usually rhyme but I know, sometimes that’s how the magic comes out of us. I like the message in the poem and how she used some imagery with the rainbow colors, which links to the imagery of dreams in the last line. This poem shows us that “festive” can be found in something as simple as reuniting with friends. The magic and beauty are usually right in front of our noses! 

rainbow colours bright
family and friends unite
brush the norm away
it’s a carnival parade
where all the year’s dreams are made.

© Willow Willers

This week, I’ve asked Willow to choose the final theme prompt for December’s challenge. Please email your theme to me at least a week before the challenge to tankatuesdaypoetry@gmail.com. Thanks.

See you tomorrow for the new challenge!

23 thoughts on “#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 253 #ThemePrompt”

  2. Oh! Goodness Colleen living upstairs and having workmen all through December will be interesting! Shortages of all all things are affecting us all!
    Well done everyone who got a mention, and thank you Colleen for picking my Tanka for a mention. We are all growing and every entry this week was festive in its own way. Also thank you to Franci for the fabulous theme prompt.💜

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    1. Thanks, Willow! I loved this theme! It was great seeing everyone’s poetry and their interpretation of festive. I’m packing up the kitchen and moving everything downstairs. It will be another adventure for sure! 😍🤦🏼‍♀️🤣

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  3. Good luck with your house renovations! Your life is going to be. . .um. . .interesting. . .in December.😏
    I’m sure it will be festive, too. As you say, there are all types of festive.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Exactly. We celebrate an old fashioned Yule, but this year we might have to get dinner from a restaurant or grocery store. Definitely not the end of the world. It’s another adventure! ❤️

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    1. Ha, ha! I wish! I’m on Weight Watchers and that would be difficult to do. I’ll be eating a lot of tuna and salad, that’s for sure! I made a huge banana bread (Ron’s favorite) and will freeze half of it. That way we can bring it out as he needs sweets. I’ll do the same thing with my chocolate chip coconut walnut cookie bars. That way we will still have some treats. Otherwise, I’ve got brown rice frozen and frozen veggies. I can toss in some chicken and it makes a meal. It will all work. We do have a microwave we borrowed for upstairs so it won’t be bad. ❤

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  6. I totally get the disruption and chaos of renovation. We had (at different times) new floors, windows, refacing cabinents/redoing a kitchen, updating electric and come May some work on a ceiling that needs a mend. (And that’s not counting our other homes – just the current one!)

    Best to you and yours during this redo time. And know that while it may seem like forever ~ it will eventually be done. (((Hugs))).

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  8. Here’s hoping the cats don’t get too festive in their curiosity during the day and stay safely ensconced! As for the night prowling? all together a different kettle of fish I’m sure they’ll be poking about in the work spaces, wondering where in the heck is their kibble?! 😉 …. and well, good luck and chin(s) (you and hubby, not a ref. to weight watchers!) up …. time has flown, so too will all of this …. before you know it, you’ll be back in the kitchen, lingering over a cuppa or a glass of cheer!

    And another interesting roundup of “festive” themes …. but I have to say, I don’t “festive” really – not within my melancholic scope I suppose, although I do make an absolutely fabulous host …. just another of my many contradictions …. or contra-indications …. anyhoo … enough ballyhoo …. see y’all on the morrow, or some time soon 🙂

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