Moondog

Moondog

Moondog came,

barking wither-white;

turned things dead

with his rabid spit;

a year sickened gone.

Come in now

before we all break.

Hold me hard

while the howling brings

black hearts and blooms down.

~April 2017

for Magaly's Stillborn Sprouts 

  

Note: I have not only used Magaly's challenge, but a form she has invented, called Thinner Tanka. Classic tanka(in English) consists of 5 syllable-counted lines of 5-7-5-7-7. Her variation thins this down to 3-5-3-5-5, for a very crisp framework which I probably did not do justice to. I have chained my two wobbly attempts into one poem here.

Image: Frostburn, © joyannjones, March 2017

Moon Dog, 1975, © Rufino Tamayo, Fair use via wikiart.org 

Winter Tanka

 Winter Tanka

~*~

From whiskbroom branches

blackbirds drop a watersong

brown rain in their throats

leaf mummies see the moon's face

music-washed night after night.

~*~

Winter's hand strokes wind

across the grain, a dry sea

flat in shades of dust

in time the lost mermaid dies

beached high in the bones of grass.

~*~

Let the smoke go up

pluming on horseheads of clouds

visible for miles;

let the wildfire come starved

to its briar sacrifice.

posted for    real toads

Challenge: Why I Write Tanka, Part II

Dr Hisashi Nakamura has generously shared his knowledge and skill with the short Japanese syllabic form known as tanka in this series at The Imaginary Garden. A tanka contains 31 English syllables in a line pattern of 5/7/5/7/7. I find them very difficult to write, but easier than not writing them, perhaps, today. I have used the bare minimum of punctuation, so I beg indulgence for my grammatical liberties.

Process note on the third tanka: Like many areas of the western US, we are having wildfires this winter due to drought, high winds and human stupidity.





Photographs: Oak-Blackbirds-Maple, Prairiewise Seeds copyright joyannjones 2014

Friday Flash 55 ~ Spare Change

  Spare Change ~ Two Tankas

I

Dawn to dusk he works

all his life but work’s not done.

Gold’s a slattern wife

hard to keep, easy to steal

always laughing while she cheats.

II

The world is waiting

for signs and comets and change.

Only signs appear

in the hand, flashed on tv.

Change, comets, can’t be written.

February 2011

Posted for Friday 55 Flash Fiction at the G-Man's

Image: dragon center jumpingym coins, by Kam TANGO  wikimedia commons

Tanka on Illusion

http://www.charlotteziebarth.com/index.html  (c) charlottteziebarth

Every sunset

paints our western trees new shades

always lost at dawn

with the whim of the days’ brush

how our faces change color.

Undoubtedly one of the hardest forms I've ever tried, this attempt at a tanka is submitted for

OneStop Poetry Form Monday, at the inimitable OneStopPoetry

with many thanks to Lady Nyo for sharing her insights 

Image: Sunsets/Trees /Windows, #2, quilt by  Charlotte Ziebarth 
Used by gracious permission of the artist