Hedgerow – call for Submissions

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

hedgerow is a quarterly short-poetry journal dedicated to publishing an eclectic mix of new & established voices across the spectrum of the short poem, with particular attention to the constantly evolving forms of haiku, senryu, tanka & haiga.

Caroline Skanne,
founding editor

Submissions for hedgerow #134 welcome. CLOSING DATE: Monday 15th March. Further submission details can be found here.

You can follow hedgerow on the social media sites below:

INSTAGRAM
hedgerowhaikujournal
TWITTER
@hedgerowpoems
FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/hedgerowpoems/

#TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 215, #POET’SCHOICE

Posted on March 2, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

66 Comments

WELCOME TO TANKA TUESDAY!

Happy March! Check out the NEW main menu item: Poetry Book Publishing Links to find poetry book publishing links, including links to literary journals and poetry magazines accepting submissions of poetry. If you know of a link to add to this list, let me know by email to tankatuesdaypoetry@gmail.com. ❤

It’s the first of the month and you know what that means! Word Crafters, choose your own syllabic poetry form, theme, words, images, etc. It’s up to you! This opportunity only happens once a month!

WAIT…

Are you looking for inspiration for your syllabic poetry? Find an image on Pixabay.com or experiment with “found poetry” to find some inspiration. Another option is to try some magnetic poetry. You still have to count syllables, but it’s like putting together a puzzle! Use this opportunity to try a new form!

The Poet’s Collective features an index of Syllabic Poetry Forms. Check it out!

This challenge is a true poet’s choice! Use any syllabic poetry form that you’d like. As long as there are syllables to count, you’re good to go! Be creative. If your form is something new, teach us how to write it. Have fun!

For this challenge, you can write your poem in the forms defined on the Poetry Challenge Cheatsheet below, and/or any other syllabic form you’d like to try.

View Cheatsheet

Here are some impressive sites that will help you write your poetry and count syllables

synonyms.com

This site even has a link so you can install the extension on Google Chrome.

thesaurus.com

For Synonyms and Antonyms. When your word has too many syllables, find one that works.

writerlywords.com/syllables/

Find out how many syllables each word has. I use this site to compose my poems. A simple yet very powerful syllable counter for poems and text which will count the total number of syllables and number of syllable per line for poems like haikus, limericks, and more.

How Many Syllables.com Counts your syllables and helps you find rhyming words too!

THE RULES

Write a poem using a form of your choice: Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Gogyohka, Haibun, Renga, Solo-Renga, Tanka Prose, Cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, Nonet, Shadorma, Badger Hexastich, and Abhanga. Don’t forget to check out our list of optional forms.
Post it on your blog.
Include a link back to the challenge in your post. (copy the https:// address of this post into your post).
Copy your link into the Mr. Linky below (underlined with a hyperlink).
Please click the small checkbox on Mr. Linky about data protection.
Read and comment on some of your fellow poets’ work.
Like and leave a comment below if you choose to do so.

The screenshot below shows what Mr. Linky looks like inside. Add your name, and the URL of your post. Click the box about the privacy policy (It’s blue). As everyone adds their links to Mr. Linky, you can view the other submissions by clicking on the Mr. Linky link on the challenge post. All the links will show in the order of posting.

See the URL in the browser image below. This is what the URL of your post will look like after you published your poem. Cut and paste that address into Mr. Linky below:

Follow the schedule listed below:

I will visit your blog, comment, and TWEET your POETRY.

If you add these hashtags to the post TITLE on your blog (depending on which poetry form you use) your poetry may be viewed more often on Twitter:

#Haiku, #Senryu, #Haiga, #Tanka, #Tanka Prose, #micropoetry, #renga, #solo-renga, #poetry, #5lines, #Haibun, #Prose, #CinquainPoetry, #Etheree, #Nonet, #Shadorma, #Gogyohka, #BadgerHexastich, #Abhanga

Now, have fun and write some poetry!

TANKA TUESDAY POETRY CHALLENGE STARS | Theme Prompt: Dreams

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

22 Comments

Welcome to our weekly poetry stars celebration. This week’s challenge was to write about the theme of “dreams,” using one of these forms: Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Gogyohka, Haibun, Tanka Prose, Renga, Solo-Renga, Cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, Nonet, Shadorma, Badger Hexastich (hexastich for short), and Abhanga.

Remember… the first of the month you can write any syllabic poetry form of your choice. The rest of the time, we write our syllabic poetry in one of the forms listed, and we follow a schedule (posted below). I do this for a couple of reasons. It requires those of you who would like to enter contests or to submit your poetry to literary journals to learn how to follow their rules. This challenge gives you that practice. Besides, why enter a challenge if you don’t follow the rules? That’s the challenge part. ❤

ALSO: Make sure you are grabbing the URL of your “published” post when you link back to the challenge and in Mr. Linky. If you need extra help with these features, let me know and I will help you. ❤

Many thanks to everyone who joined in below:

1.	Trent McDonald	10.	Zander	19.	Donna Matthews
2.	Padre	11.	Dave Madden	20.	kittysverses
3.	Eugenia	12.	Gwen Plano	21.	Vashti Quiroz- Vega
4.	Annette Rochelle Aben	13.	Erlyn Olivia	22.	Ruth Scribbles
5.	Jules	14.	s. s.	23.	M J Mallon
6.	Ritu Bhathal	15.	Anita Dawes	24.	Sally Cronin
7.	willowdot21	16.	theindieshe	25.	Merril D. Smith
8.	Cheryl	17.	Balroop Singh	26.	Kerfe Roig
9.	D. L. Finn	18.	Heather Kelley	27.	Colleen M. Chesebro

Congratulations everyone! The poems this week were astounding! I have to share a few highlights because we all learn technique and style from each other:

Trent McDonald: Read his poem and follow the link to the discussion of his dream. There is some really strange stuff going on here! Definitely worth a read!

Zander: Notice how he writes his tanka by separating the two seven-syllable lines from the 5/7/5 portion. This effect produces a pleasing visual on the page. Many modern poets write their tanka in this form. I like it!

Willow: She took up the challenge to write a Diatelle. This poem shows how effective a rhyming scheme can be.

In the end, I went with Merril D. Smith’s Badger Hexastich, “The Dream.” This is a delightful poem. Notice how she put herself inside the painting as if she was part of the dream. Writing poetry is a form of communication and connection. When you share bits of yourself with your readers, your poetry becomes personal to the reader. ❤

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

Christian Krohg, “Tired” captured from Merril D. Smith blog

The Dream, #BadgerHexastitch

almost
familiar, this
place, my house, but not—see
the walls dissolve, and I
am someone else
watching

watching
myself, I am
within, without—I am
fixed and infinite, I
am everything
I know.

©2021 Merril D. Smith

See you tomorrow for another Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge!

Word craft ~ Prose & poetry “MEET THE POET,” Featuring @Marjorie_Mallon

Posted on February 26, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

56 Comments

Welcome to a new feature on wordcraftpoetry.com, which highlights the poets in our writing community. Get to know the people behind the poetry and the books. It’s a great way to share our love for writing poetry with others.

Today’s guest is Marjorie Mallon. She’s a frequent participant in our Tanka Tuesday challenges. I’ve known Marje since we both started blogging back in 2014! Time flies when you’re having fun!

AUTHOR BIO

My alter ego is MJ – Mary Jane from Spiderman. I love superheros!

On the 17th of November I was born, in Lion City: Singapore, (a passionate Scorpio, with the Chinese Zodiac sign a lucky rabbit.) My early childhood was spent in Hong Kong. During my teen years, my parents returned to my father’s birthplace, Edinburgh, where I spent many happy years. As a teenager, I travelled to many far-flung destinations. It’s rumoured that I now live in the Venice of Cambridge, with my six-foot hunk of a Rock God husband. My two enchanted daughters have almost flown the nest, but often return with a cheery smile to greet me.

During the day, I work in an international sixth form with students from around the world. I’m the meet and greet lady who welcomes them to their new college and issues them with late slips when they don’t get to their lessons on time!

I write YA fantasy, paranormal, horror/supernatural short stories, flash fiction and short form poetry. More recently, I have produced and compiled an anthology/compilation set during the early stages of COVID-19 entitled This Is Lockdown. Following on from this, in February 2021 I will be releasing Lockdown Innit, poems about absurdity which will be available in kindle and shortly after release in paperback.

I’ve been blogging for many moons at my blog home Kyrosmagica, which means Crystal Magic. From time to time I write articles celebrating the spiritual realm, inspiration and my love of nature, crystals and all things magical, mystical, and mysterious.

My eclectic blog shares my three loves: reading, writing, and creativity. I adore reading and have written over 150 reviews on my blog: https://mjmallon.com/2015/09/28/a-z-of-my-book-reviews/

Marje has a new book out called Lockdown Innit. I had to ask her what the word “Innit” meant. Basically, its British slang for “Isn’t it?” That should give you a clue as to the humor in this poetry collection. Here’s a bit about the book:

Lockdown Innit is a poetry collection of eighteen poems about life’s absurdities and frustrations during lockdown. Wherever you live in this world, this is for you. Expect humour, a dollop of banter and ridiculous rants here and there. Amongst other delights, witness the strange antics of a swan posing by a bin and two statuesque horses appearing like arc deco pieces in a field. Check out the violin player on a tightrope, or the cheeky unmentionables wafting in the lockdown breeze!

Preorder Buying Links Lockdown Innit Releases TODAY: February 26^th

Kindle Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VW81Q53/

Kindle Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VW81Q53/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56949934-lockdown-innit

Universal link for kindle: https://mybook.to/Lockdowninnit

Our Interview

Marje, what got you started writing poetry?

I started writing poetry and diaries at a young age. Then, other distractions came along: boys, followed by marriage, work, and children. I know that sounds somewhat cliched, but it took me a long time to rediscover my interest and love of poetry. If I hadn’t started blogging, I might never have. My re-introduction to poetry began with Ronovan Writes poetry prompts, I wrote short form three line haiku to begin with. Thereafter, I joined your weekly Tanka Tuesday, Colleen. I’ve never looked back. Colleen has an outstanding poetry blog full of advice on all types of poetry.Through Colleen’s guidance pages, I’ve had fun trying many different forms.

What is your favorite poetry form?

Ah, Colleen, that is a difficult question! I still love the Tanka form, preferring it to Haiku as it gives me two more lines to say what I’d like to!

I also love poems that form a shape on the page, such as the Etheree and the Cinquain. In my new poetry collection Lockdown Innit there is a wide variety to choose from, including free verse poetry, a Tanka, and an Etheree.

I tried a couple of new forms— the daisy chain form which was fun and the decastich—Egg timer Poem, which I discovered via this link on your blog, Colleen:

The Poet’s Collective features an index of Syllabic Poetry Forms. Check it out!

Here’s the detail of the poems I tried:

Egg Timer – A decastich (10 line poem)
Syllabic 5/4/3/2/1/1/2/3/4/5
Unrhymed
Formulaic: The last five lines are the mirror image of the first five lines.
Centered or not, at the poet’s discretion.

Daisy Chain The last word in the line becomes the first word of the next line. To end the poem, the last word is the same as the first word.

The Butterfly Cinquain: An unrhymed 9 line poem.
syllabic, 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line.

Here is an example of the Butterfly Cinquain form from Lockdown Innit:

Horses
 Grazing on grass
 Unaware they are watched
 Still, like symmetrical statues
 Nose down
 Three leafy shrubs oddly aligned
 How bizarre this scene is
 My eyes observe
 Lockdown

 © M J Mallon

The image of the horses captured my attention so much that I used it as a focal point for my book cover image. The collection focuses on the strange things I have observed, felt, or experienced during lockdown.

If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Keep on writing!

I regret I didn’t return to writing for such a long time. When I became a mum, I devoted all my energies to my children and lost myself a little. I do, and I don’t regret that. I have two lovely girls who mean the world to me. It’s only now that my much-loved daughters are young adults that I’m finding more time, energy and enthusiasm to write.

Also, when I was younger, I lacked the confidence that I have now. I’ve grown so much as a person through blogging and writing. It literally has changed my life, and has introduced me to so many people, such a wonderfully supportive community. I’m blessed and obsessed!

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

That’s an interesting question. I wrote my first book, a YA Fantasy, The Curse of Time #1 Bloodstone in a whirlwind of imaginative ideas. I woke up each morning with an action reel whizzing in my mind. This still happens to me, I often awaken with an incredible burst of energy, and rush to jot down a storyline. I still get a huge buzz when this happens. In fact, it happened to me this morning!

Writing your first novel changes your writing process. I was lucky to have so much help, support and encouragement with my debut novel. I owe particular thanks to Colleen for her meticulous beta reading, which became a full-scale kindness of her heart editing, and prior to that to Graham Cumming for reading through the first draft and commenting on many suggested improvements. It is crucial to have a fresh pair of eyes, beta readers, and a trusted editor to read your work. All of which I have, I am so grateful to my beta readers and to the blogging community for all they do for me.

All writers have weaknesses, or excesses! I excel at imaginative ideas but have to work harder at dialogue and plotting. To a degree, I still resist plotting. I prefer the ideas to flow organically, but the key is to get the balance right. Balance is as important in all aspects of life as it is in the art of writing. So now, I play to my strengths, making sure that I have all the unique elements on a page, in the correct quantities! Dialogue, engaging characters, scenes, peaks and troughs, all working together to ensure that the crazy plot stands up to scrutiny. I continue to work at my craft, loving each step along the way. I am pretty stubborn! I never give up, even if the task seems almost insurmountable.

And believe me, the second in my YA series The Curse of Time #2 Golden Healer, is an immense challenge, one that I will work on completing later this year.

Lockdown Innit is my first book dedicated to poetry and nothing else.

My previous books, The Curse of Time, Mr. Sagittarius, and the anthology/compilation This Is Lockdown all include poetry.

This alone is indicative of how much I love poetry that it surreptitiously creeps in everywhere!

Thanks so much for stopping by Marje. I’ll make sure and add this book to the Tanka Tuesday Poetry Book Store where I share the Amazon Author links to the books published by the regular participants of the Tanka Tuesday Weekly Poetry Challenge. Many of these books include poetry, short stories, and essays. If you’re looking for a gift, this is the perfect place to begin your shopping journey. Books make thoughtful gifts.

Look for Marje:

Authors Website:: https://mjmallon.com
Authors Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/M-J-Mallon/e/B074CGNK4L
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon

#ABRSC – Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1829166787333493/
Goodreads:: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-j-mallon

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/

How do You Self-Publish a Poetry Book?

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

56 Comments

Jude, one of our challenge participants, asked me a valuable question. He wanted to know how to self publish a poetry book. (If you have had novel experiences publishing your poetry book, please share in the comments).

This is a brilliant question! I usually compile my manuscript on Microsoft Word, but as a MAC user, I also have Pages which is free. Then, I upload my manuscript to Kindle Create on Amazon.com. However, this might not be the way you publish your poetry books.

So… I’ve compiled a few links that will help you on your journey:

Proper Manuscript Formatting: https://www.shunn.net/format/poetry/ (I would say this is a suggested way to format your poems for submission into contests, publishers, or literary journals). It’s best to follow the directions required by the publisher.

How to Publish a Poetry Book Step by Step: https://authority.pub/publish-poetry-book/

Kindle Create Tutorial: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/GYVL2CASGU9ACFVU. This link will walk you through using the Kindle Create program on Amazon.com. I can only speak for this version. I assume each country’s Amazon has their own links to Kindle Create? If you know differently, please let us know in the comments.

50 Free Writing Software And The Best Free Writing Apps: https://justpublishingadvice.com/free-writing-software-and-the-best-free-writers-tools/

From the article above: If you are not using Calibre, you should be. It’s one of the best ebook editing tools for authors, and it’s free.

The Best Free Sites To Publish Poetry Online: https://justpublishingadvice.com/publish-poetry-online/

canva.com has a great selection of kindle book cover templates. This is a free site. They also offer classes through their blog to teach you how to use the program.

Consider submitting to a poetry contest for poetry books. Many small presses hold annual contests to attract new talent. Many of these contests are listed in Poets & Writers’ Writing Contests, Grants, & Awards Database.

Poetry Book Publishers: https://poetrysociety.org/about/resources

I’ll create a page to save this information for future reference on Word Craft – Prose & Poetry.

GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!

#TANKA TUESDAY Weekly #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 214, #THEMEPROMPT

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

75 Comments

WELCOME TO TANKA TUESDAY!

It’s the fourth week of the month! Are you ready for a theme prompt?

This month’s theme is:

Dreams

On the Monday recap, I’ll select someone to choose next month’s theme.

For this poetry challenge, you can write your poem in the forms defined on the cheat sheet:

Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge Cheat sheet

Here are some sites that will help you write your poetry and count syllables

synonyms.com

This site even has a link so you can install the extension on Google Chrome.

thesaurus.com

For Synonyms and Antonyms. When your word has too many syllables, find one that works.

howmanysyllables.com

Find out how many syllables each word has. I use this site to compose my poems. Click on the “Workshop” tab, then cut and paste your poetry into the box. Click the Count Syllables button on the button. This site does the hard work for you.

The RULES

Write a poem using a form of your choice: Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Gogyohka, Haibun, Tanka Prose, Renga, Solo-Renga, Cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, Nonet, Shadorma, Badger hexastich, and Abhanga. The first of the month challenge, you can write whatever syllabic form you choose, but not this challenge.
Post it on your blog.
Include a link back to the challenge in your post. (copy the Https:// address of this post into your post).
Copy your link into the Mr. Linky below (underlined with a hyperlink).
Please click the small checkbox on Mr. Linky about data protection.
Read and comment on some of your fellow poets’ work.
Like and leave a comment below if you choose to do so.

The screenshot below shows what Mr. Linky looks like inside. Add your name, and the URL of your post. Click the box about the privacy policy (It’s blue). As everyone adds their links to Mr. Linky, you can view the other submissions by clicking on the Mr. Linky link on the challenge post. All the links will show in the order of posting.

Follow the monthly schedule listed below:

I will visit your blog, comment, and TWEET your POETRY.

If you add these hashtags to the post TITLE on your blog (depending on which poetry form you use) your poetry may be viewed more often on Twitter:

#Haiku, #Senryu, #Haiga, #Tanka, #micropoetry, #poetry, #5lines, #Haibun, #Prose, #CinquainPoetry, #Etheree, #Nonet, #Shadorma #Gogyohka, #TankaProse, #Renga, #SoloRenga, #BaxterHexastich, #Abhanga

Now, have fun and write some poetry!

The Diatelle

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

35 Comments

I’d like to suggest an optional form for us to experiment with. A few months ago, Merril D. Smith wrote a poem called a Diatelle. She found this form on shadowpoetry.com.

“The Diatelle is a fun, syllable counting form like the etheree with a twist. The syllable structure of the diatelle is as follows: 1/2/3/4/6/8/10/12/10/8/6/4/3/2/1, but unlike an etheree, has a set rhyme pattern of abbcbccaccbcbba. This poetry form may be written on any subject matter and looks best center aligned in a diamond shape.”
https://merrildsmith.wordpress.com/2020/07/10/flickering/

Merril shared a poem she created using the Diatelle form:

Light
comes, goes,
so it flows
to earth and sea,
flaming grassy meadows,
with photons streaming, gilds a tree.
Though shadows loom below, we let them be;
pretend we do not see the coming of the night,
but live, walk, talk—and love, the apogee
of our beings—humanity
with stardust traces glows
but faintly—see?
The flickers
dim. . .grow
bright.

©2020 Merril D. Smith

She also showed how she diagrams her poetry to get the correct rhyme scheme placement. Refer to my post HERE about rhyme schemes.

Merril says, “Maybe everyone does this, but if not, maybe it’s helpful to see. I made myself a template to keep track of syllables/lines and rhymes. I do this for many forms.”

a1 Light
 b2 comes, goes
 b3 so it flows
 c4 to earth and sea
 b6 flaming grassy meadows–
 c8 with photons streaming, gild a tree
 c10 though shadows loom below, we let them be,
 a12 pretend we do not see the coming of the night
 c10 but live, walk, talk–and love, the apogee
 c8 of our beings–humanity
 b6 with stardust traces glows
 c4 but faintly—see?
 b3 The flickers
 b2 dim, grow
 a1 bright.

I know some of you need an additional challenge. This is an optional form. Try it and see if it flows for you. I won’t add this until we’ve worked with the Diatelle for a while. It helps if you put it in the context of writing an Etheree. Take your time and just have fun. ❤

TANKA TUESDAY POETRY CHALLENGE STARS | #PhotoPrompt, The psychology of color

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

37 Comments

Welcome to our weekly poetry stars celebration. This week’s challenge was to choose synonyms for the words, “loose and tight,” using one of these forms: Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Gogyohka, Haibun, Tanka Prose, Renga, Solo-Renga, Cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, Nonet, Shadorma, Badger Hexastich (hexastich for short), and Abhanga.

Remember… the first of the month you can write any syllabic poetry form of your choice. The rest of the time, we write our syllabic poetry in one of the forms listed, and we follow a schedule (posted below). I do this for a couple of reasons. It requires those of you who would like to enter contests or to submit your poetry to literary journals to learn how to follow their rules. This challenge gives you that practice. Besides, why enter a challenge if you don’t follow the rules? That’s the challenge part. ❤

ALSO: Make sure you are grabbing the URL of your “published” post when you link back to the challenge and in Mr. Linky. If you need extra help with these features, let me know and I will help you. ❤

Many thanks to everyone who joined in below and to Mr. Linky’s Magical Widgets:

1.	Reena Saxena	10.	Tina Stewart Brakebill	19.	Zander
2.	ladyleemanila	11.	Ritu Bhathal	20.	Ruth Scribbles
3.	Henry Chukwuma	12.	D. L. Finn	21.	M J Mallon
4.	Padre	13.	Colleen Chesebro	22.	D.G. Kaye
5.	Jude	14.	Eugenia	23.	G.R. MELVIN
6.	s. s.	15.	Cheryl	24.	kittysverses
7.	Gwen Plano	16.	willowdot21	25.	Sally Cronin
8.	Trent McDonald	17.	Jules	26.
9.	theindieshe	18.	Anita Dawes

This week, I asked you all to use the psychology of color in your poetry. Using color provokes strong imagery, engaging your brain to react to the symbolism. We write poetry to connect with the world around us. The addition of color helps us choose words to convey a deeper meaning.

Think about the color blue. This hue can be warm and comforting, while it can also signify coldness. Don’t forget about the act of feeling “blue.” Just that one word (one syllable) helps to convey a range of emotions.

There were some exquisite poems this week, so please visit the other poets to read their poems. The Badger Hexastich seems to be a popular form. Please read Sally Cronin’s poems HERE to get an idea of how your words and syllables should flow smoothly with meaning when using this form.

Those short syllables can be choppy, as I illustrated in my poem. I did this to emphasize the lack of emotion the color gray can invoke. When you compose your poetry, think about your reader’s reactions to your words.

I also like Jude’s haibun senryu. In the haibun portion he writes each sentence separately, like a verse, instead of in a paragraph. He stays true to the Japanese form, but adds his own personalization to it.

Check out his word choice. Desdemona is a character from the Shakespeare play, Othello. Just the mention of her name invokes a kind of gray sadness as the beautiful and innocent wife of Othello who meets a tragic end. This is excellent imagery.

I chose D.L. Finn’s tanka poem below to highlight this week. I enjoyed Denise’s creativity. The first three lines convey a specific theme: the angel’s gift. The last two lines pivot, and she gives direction to her poetry by sharing her reaction to seeing the gift. The pivot was a surprise! The imagery is precise, yet doesn’t share too much by saying she “…saw the soul of the world.” What does that mean to you?

This week, I’ve asked D.L. Finn to choose the photo for next month’s #Photo Prompt challenge. Please email your words to me at least a week before the challenge to tankatuesdaypoetry@gmail.com. Thanks.

THE GIFT

The angel’s gift shone
Like a rainbow umbrella
In a vile gray world.
Curious, I approached her
And saw the soul of the world.

©2021 D.L. Finn

See you tomorrow for another fun syllabic poetry challenge!

What is a Rhyme Scheme?

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

26 Comments

Did you know plants respond to the sounds of our voices? Sounds like an opportunity to read your poetry aloud! (Talking to Plants)

Hello Word Crafters! As I continue to introduce more syllabic poetry forms featuring an end rhyming scheme, I thought we would discuss what an end rhyme scheme is. Here is a quick definition:

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of sound found at the end of lines. These rhyme schemes are given a letter, usually beginning with the letter A.

A four-line poem with a rhyme scheme is something like this:

The first line rhymes with the third line, and the second line rhymes with the fourth line. The rhyme scheme is ABAB.

Roses are red,
violets are blue,
Shakespeare is dead?
I had no clue.

Let’s use the Abhanga syllabic form as an example. The Abhanga is written in any number of four-line verses. The syllable count is 6/6/6/4 per stanza.

In this form, only L2 and L3 rhyme. Often, the letter x, is used to denote an unrhymed end word. This rhyme scheme is:

xaax, x = unrhymed.

magic is found within 
breathe deep into your core 
open your heart and soar 
find inner peace 

©2021 Colleen M. Chesebro

We use rhymes in all different kinds of poetry. They aren’t always used in patterns or at the end of lines, which means not all rhyming poetry has a rhyme scheme.

We only use rhyme schemes for poems that use end rhyme—which is rhymes at the end of lines.

Litcharts.com has an excellent discussion of end rhyme schemes you can read HERE.

Other Types of Rhyme Schemes

Alternate rhyme is ABAB CDCD EFEF used in ballads.

Coupled rhyme schemes occur in pairs like AABBCC. The rhymes are called couplets.

Momorhyme use one rhyme through the poem like AAAA.

Sandwich rhyme schemes are like ABA or ABBA.

Chain rhyme is where stanzas are linked together by rhymes that carry over from one stanza to the next, like ABA BCB CDC.

That’s just a few of the different rhyme schemes. For now, we will continue to work with the Abhanga syllabic form until I find a few more forms to share and experiment with. If you find an interesting syllabic form with a rhyme scheme, link to this post and I’ll check it out! Thanks.

Who’s ready to write some syllabic poetry?

WEEKLY #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 213 #EKPHRASTIC #PHOTOPROMPT

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Colleen M. Chesebro

78 Comments

WELCOME TO TANKA TUESDAY!

It’s the third week of the month! Time for an Ekphrastic #PhotoPrompt

This challenge explores Ekphrastic writing inspired by visual art (photographs). I selected the image for this month’s challenge, but I’ll choose someone from the recap to pick the image for next month.

Hello Word Crafters! I believe I fixed the problem with WP and the interactions with the Safari browser. It was partially theme related, and partially Safari related.

Although I didn’t choose a painting this week, I want you to write your poetry using the psychology of color. You can take the image at face value, choose a specific color in the rainbow umbrella to write about, or write about the lack of color. However, you interpret this image is up to you… just make sure to incorporate the psychology of color.

For the Tanka Tuesday Weekly Poetry Challenge, you can write your poem in the forms defined on the Poetry Challenge Cheatsheet (click the link below):

Cheat Sheet Link

Here are some sites that will help you write your poetry and count syllables:

writerlywords.com/syllables/

A simple yet powerful syllable counter for poems and text which will count the total number of syllables and number of syllable per line for poems like haikus, limericks, and more.

synonyms.com

This site even has a link so you can install the extension on Google Chrome.

thesaurus.com

For Synonyms and Antonyms. When your word has too many syllables, find one that works.

howmanysyllables.com

This site does the hard work for you. It’s up and working again.

THE RULES

Write a poem using a form of your choice: Haiku, Senryu, Haiga, Tanka, Gogyohka, Haibun, Tanka Prose, Renga, Solo-Renga, Cinquain, and its variations, Etheree, Nonet, Shadorma, Badger hexastich, and Abhanga. The first of the month challenge, you can write whatever syllabic form you choose, but not this challenge.
Post it on your blog.
Include a link back to the challenge in your post. (copy the https:// address of this post into your post).
Copy your published post link into the Mr. Linky below (underlined with a hyperlink).
Please click the small checkbox on Mr. Linky about data protection.
Read and comment on some of your fellow poets’ work.
Like and leave a comment below if you choose to do so.

The screenshot below shows what Mr. Linky looks like inside. Add your name, and the URL of your post. Click the box about the privacy policy (It’s blue). As everyone adds their links to Mr. Linky, you can view the other submissions by clicking on the Mr. Linky link on the challenge post. All the links will show in the order of posting.

I will visit your blog, comment, and TWEET your POETRY.

If you add these hashtags to the post TITLE on your blog (depending on which poetry form you use) your poetry may be viewed more often on Twitter:

#Haiku, #Senryu, #Haiga, #Gogyohka, #Tanka, #TankaProse, #Renga, #Solo-Renga, #micropoetry, #poetry, #5lines, #Haibun, #Prose, #CinquainPoetry, #Etheree, #Nonet, #Shadorma, #BadgerHexastich, #Abhanga