#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 262 | #ThemePrompt: Transitions

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

Some Monday’s I just have to laugh at myself. I forgot the challenge post number and the rest of the title in this post. It’s updated now! šŸ˜œ

Welcome to our weekly poetry stars’ celebration. This weekā€™s challenge was to write our choice of syllabic poem, using the theme of transitions. We were to use a form from the cheat sheet or a syllabic form from Poetscollective.org.

What a spectacular week of poetry. There was something here for everyone!

Many thanks to everyone who joined in below:

1.ladyleemanila11.The Versesmith21.Sally Cronin
2.ben Alexander12.anita dawes22.D. Avery
3.Reena Saxena13.Elizabeth23.Ruth Klein
4.Gwen Plano14.willowdot2124.s. s.
5.Harmony Kent15.Balroop Singh25.Jane Aguiar
6.Jules16.Pat26.Jude
7.Ken Gierke / rivrvlogr17.theindieshe27.Veera
8.Laura McHarrie18.Annette Rochelle Aben28.Colleen Chesebro
9.Donna Matthews19.roberta Eaton Cheadle  
10.Yvette M Calleiro20.Kerfe (NYC) 

Many thanks to Harmony Kent for all the #TankaTuesday tweets. She has grown the #TankaTuesday hashtag with more followers. Also, many thanks to Annette Rochelle Aben, for spreading the challenge on Facebook. I can barely keep up with you two! šŸ™šŸ» ā¤ļø

I was thrilled to see many new and old friends jump into the challenge this week. What fun! Transitions worked as a great theme. What did transition mean to you?

David wrote a quadrille (44 words) as a double nonet! Now that takes some skill in counting syllables and words!

Gwen Plano’s haiga senryu is a stunner!

Pat gave me spring fever with her haiku series.

This week, Donna Matthews‘ haibun, “A New Day,” really connected to me. Grief is one of the hardest emotions to write about, and different for everyone. Yet, Donna’s poem laid open my heart. Think about the transitions involved between grief and choosing to move away from grief. Or, for that matter, recognizing your grief, as illustrated in this poem.

I also liked the personal nature of her prose. But notice how Donna nicely swings around to her haiku, where she compares earth’s passage from winter to spring. That connection to death and rebirth emphasizes the theme of transition, too! You clearly feel the passage of time with her phrase “rotates in silence.”

A New Dawn

The dark road stretches ahead for milesā€¦135 miles of Hwy 285 connecting Carlsbad and Interstate I10. As I see the first hint of dawn, the analogies are so obvious. The dark night giving way to light, the idea that nothing lasts forever, and all that jazz. But man, do I love driving that long dark road into a new dawn.

rotates in silence
from twinkly stars to brilliant orange
earthā€™s winter to spring

With the sunrise, my thoughts turn to this week and its demands. Itā€™s been a while since Iā€™ve written anything of substance. Not to say haikus are nothingā€¦ itā€™s just they seem easier: sit down for a moment, pay attention to whatā€™s happening around me and write it down. I guess the point is, its surface workā€¦stop, listen, write, get back to the tasks of living. But I know Iā€™ve been avoiding the hard work. Iā€™ve been skimming the surface for weeks now.

I acknowledge the grief with a nod across the room. She moves in for a chat and I move away to another conversation. Sheā€™s got too much class to make a sceneā€¦ at least today, that is. There will be a reckoning at some point, I supposeā€¦ she wonā€™t be denied her time with me.

Ā© Donna Matthews

This week, Iā€™ve asked Donna to choose the theme prompt for next monthā€™s challenge. Please email your words to me at least a week before the challenge to colleen@wordcraftpoetry.com. Thanks.

See you tomorrow for the new challenge!

29 thoughts on “#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 262 | #ThemePrompt: Transitions”

  1. This was such a great theme with many wonderful responses. I started to write about it for my dVerse sparrowlet. . .but then the Russian invasion happened. Donna’s haibun is so poignant. šŸ’™

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Merril, I know what you mean. I’m on the edge of my seat with the Russian invasion. We all grew up under the Cold War, unlike our kids, or grandkids. I think it affects us more. Putin didn’t expect the world to come to Ukraine’s defense. Hopefully, this gets resolved soon. Donna’s haibun grabs your heart doesn’t it? ā¤

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Perhaps those of us who lived through the Cold War and not that far from WWII (when my parents married) have a different perspective. I’m not so sure though that it affects us more. Later generations have lived through other wars, as well as seeing an attempted plot to overturn our government. Yes, I hope it is settled soon, too, without too many more lives lost.
        And yes about Donna’s haibun. šŸ’™

        Liked by 1 person

  3. This week’s theme was wonderful, and I enjoyed seeing everyone’s interpretation of it. I, too, felt connected to Donna’s grief. When poetry lingers on your soul, you know you’ve created magic, and Donna did just that. Congratulations to David, Gwen, and Pat for the mentions! Your poems were great as well. šŸ™‚

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Oh,Colleen! Your writing community here is a salve and blessing and Iā€™m grateful to be a member. AND, WOW, Iā€™m so honored for the shout out this week ā™„ļøā™„ļøā™„ļø

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Your haibun was excellent, Donna. You wrote from the heart and I felt your words. You also were spot on with the theme. Bravo to you, Donna. ā¤ļøā¤ļøā¤ļø

      Like

Comments are closed.