#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 275 | #ThemePrompt: “Useful”

Posted byColleen M. ChesebroPosted inPrior Years Poetry StarsTags:, , , , , ,

Happy Memorial Day (May 30th)! What is Memorial Day?

Welcome to our weekly poetry stars’ celebration. This week’s challenge was to write our choice of syllabic poem, using a form from the cheat sheet or a syllabic form from the Poetscollective.org, using the theme of “useful.”

Many thanks to everyone who joined in below:

1.Harmony Kent8.willowdot2115.Colleen Chesebro
2.ben Alexander9.Tzvi Fievel16.theindieshe
3.D. L. Finn10.Annette Rochelle Aben17.Veera
4.Jules11.Yvette M Calleiro18.Ruth Klein
5.Gwen Plano12.Kerfe19.sally Cronin
6.Sarah David13.Reena Saxena20.You’re next!
7.Selma14.Balroop Singh  

Whew! Kerfe’s selection of “useful” for the theme this week sure produced some great poetry. I found the theme a significant challenge, which is exactly what we want. There were so many ways to look at “useful.”

This week, I chose Harmony Kent’s Alouette to feature. Not only does the message resonate with the theme of useful, but the advice is spot-on (useful) for many of us in a busy world. Check out Harmony’s blog for the rules on how to write an Alouette. ❤

"Empty Vessel"

of what use is an
empty pot?—more than
the space within the vessel?
best vacant or full?
life brings push and pull—
with such things we must wrestle
 

esse is more than
achievements that span
the years in which days nestle
cup spills if too full
the mess left—awful
too busy is not special


better to sit an’
reflect—be still—than
coat yourself in the speckle
of the useless pall
of doing it all
twisted up like a pretzel

 
the pragmatic man
walked before he ran
balanced work with the restful
drop by drop—stream full
listen first then call
for a life quintessential

©Harmony Kent

This week, I’ve asked Harmony Kent to choose the prompt for next month’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!

Published by Colleen M. Chesebro

An avid reader, Colleen M. Chesebro rekindled her love of writing poetry after years spent working in the accounting industry. These days, she loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction. In addition to poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on Word Craft Poetry.com by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry. Chesebro is an assistant editor of The Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology & Gitty Up Press, a micro-press founded by Charli Mills and Carrot Ranch. In January 2022, Colleen founded Unicorn Cats Publishing Services to assist poets and authors in creating eBooks and print books for publication. In addition, she creates affordable book covers for Kindle and print books. Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.

22 thoughts on “#TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 275 | #ThemePrompt: “Useful””

  1. Thanks so much for showcasing my poem this week, Colleen! I’m thrilled 😁 As you say, there were so many fantastic responses to the great prompt. Congratulations to everyone who took part. Have a wonderful week, all 💕🙂

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        1. By the way, I tried to set up a free blog for Unicorn Cats Publishing Services. After two hours, I quit. The FSE is worthless and difficult to use. The free themes are horrible. All of them are plain and look the same. If I would have encountered this when I first started blogging in 2014, I would’nt have begun blogging. What is wrong with WP? In the meantime… I found a free site called YOLO.com. I’ll let you know how that goes. I read WP is losing customers. I can tell them why. They want you to pay $60 a year for a plain jane site or $180 a year for the better themes. It’s all about money. I’m so frustrated.

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          1. We’re on the same page, Colleen. The FSE is worthless to me, as well. As long as I have a suitable theme for my blog, I’m okay. I managed to learn the new editor without problems but FSE isn’t worth my time. I think WP made a big mistake with the new pricing. Let me know about YOLO.com. I’m frustrated too!

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