Carpe Diem Haiku Kai‘s early summer kigo word is shincha, meaning new tea.
black? chai? or rooibos?
search for favorite cup as
workers pick tea leaves
remember hours of labor
gratitude steeping new brew
shy century
05 Jun 2018 5 Comments
in senryu, tanka Tags: birthday, cake, century, grandma, heaven, party
hoped to celebrate
grandma’s one hundredth birthday
but she passed away…
left us behind with no cake
she’s partying in heaven!
Elsie’s 100th tanka challenge at Ramblings of a Writer. My dear Grandma Gertie nearly reached 100 years…can you imagine living for a century?
altiplano camelid
01 Jun 2018 Leave a comment
in tanka Tags: alpaca, camelid, fleece, foreigners, pasture
Alpacas are fascinating! Read more about them here: island alpaca site
drive by pasture…look!
alpacas in iowa?
friendly hums and pronks
warm-eyed foreigners adapt
produce luxurious fleece
steer back to midnight
24 May 2018 Leave a comment
in tanka Tags: farmer, finances, lovers, moonlight, steers, wife
farmer at salebarn
hoping steers go for good price
wife at home pays bills
has daily-ness forgotten
the nights as moonlight lovers?
Tanka for MLMM & Chevrefeuille’s “heeding haiku” prompt: moonlight lovers
hesitant spring
22 May 2018 Leave a comment
in tanka Tags: games, plum, prince, snow, spring
Wood block print from MET Japanese collection…
rough and tumble games
prince haru with palace view
does not join his peers
will he be next emperor?
late snow covers plum blossoms
tarashikomi style
14 May 2018 Leave a comment
in tanka Tags: art, ink, Japanese, monk, painting, persimmon, screen
Tweetspeak poets at the MET Japanese art exhibit…
gold fold-screen panel
graceful brushstrokes of mottled ink
lone tree jags bare sky
artful monk desires fuyu—
persimmon, red-orange ripe
*note: persimmon’s Latin name means “food of the gods”
by Sakai Hoitsu, 1816
purple dreams
08 May 2018 Leave a comment
in tan renga, tanka Tags: dreams, inn, moon, purple, traveler, wisteria
Kortney at Tweetspeak Poetry hosts Monday prompts, tanka this week.
I come weary,
In search of an inn—
Ah! these wisteria flowers!
–by Matsuo Basho, translated by William George Aston
purple moon blooms in doorway
scent welcomes dream traveler
– by lynn
image: groupon.co.uk
obsessed with beams
02 May 2018 3 Comments
in tanka Tags: architecture, building, design, home, landscape, son
Ramblings of a Writer tanka challenge: Home & Landscape
son draws in layers
architectural study
home design project
foundational beginning
building to blend in landscape
photo by lynn
mustangs of monterrey
12 Apr 2018 10 Comments
in tanka Tags: gallop, horses, mustangs, nursing home, spirit, stall
wild horses gallop
through her mind’s long ago rooms
spirit whinnies free
wonders why they corralled her
in nursing home’s confined stall
Getty Images
Linking to Toads’ Garden, inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem of “long ago rooms”
there is a God and you are not him
06 Mar 2018 2 Comments
in tanka Tags: creation, earth, God, heaven, one
Linking this tanka with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai today…
considering beliefs of
muslim, jew, christian,
on something we can agree:
we believe only one God,
maker of heaven and earth.
crossroads
22 Feb 2018 2 Comments
in tanka Tags: caravans, desert, religion, silk, treasure
Connecting with Carpe Diem Haiku Kai prompt on the silk road…
silk road caravans
spread three major religions
passing through desert
risk trade of valued treasure
thirsty souls seek higher goal
source: Essay Shark
rooted faith
16 Feb 2018 4 Comments
in scripture, tanka Tags: birds, kingdom, mustard, seed, tree
tiny mustard seed
birds find shade in its branches
surprising kingdom
grows into life-spreading tree
from minuscule beginnings
Luke 13:18 & 19
