Category Archives: Tanka

Grappling with fate

grappling with fate

nothing thrills me more,
not fortune, nor happenstance…
serendipity
rouses my soul to believe
in kismet, in providence

felicitous flukes
that bind us intrinsically
you know…pure magic

~kat

For Colleen Chesebro’s Tuesday Poetry Challenge inspired by these words and their synonyms:

Destiny: fortune, serendipity, happenstance, kismet, fate

Challenge: rouse, thrill, grapple.


Ochlocracy

ochlocracy

they crave attention
vowing no obligation
to covenants, revealing
loyalty in collusion
with the one who swears for sport

power corrupted
democracy is dying
while everyone sleeps

~kat

A Tanka/Senryu for Colleen Chesebro’s Tuesday Poetry Challenge inspired by synonyms of the words: Bond-obligation, swear, vow, covenant, collusion, loyalty and Seek-plead, crave.


Fire and Ice


Mount Mayon rages
billowing ash, eclipsed, the
cerulean vault,
molten bowels oozing, etching
her passionate apologue

black obsidian
destruction’s cool residue
fire and ice collide

~kat

For Colleen Chesebro’s Tuesday Poetry Challenge, a Tanka-Senryu inspired by nature’s latest rumbling…the Mount Mayon eruptions, and employing synonyms of the prompt words: myth – apalogue and write – etch.


Captain…not my Captain

Captain…not my Captain

it’s not in the cards
call it kismet; call it fate
but inspiration
can’t be gleaned when kibitzers
boasting genius are in charge

~kat

Another “fun with synonyms” exercise for Colleen Chesebro’s ‘Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge’ using synonyms of the words: destination: kismet, fate, in the cards and guide: captain, genius, inspiration, kibitzer.


desideratum

desideratum

revolution’s call,
vicissitude’s avidity,
a dreamer’s longing…
metamorphosis happens
when faint hearts become fearless

~kat

For Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge using synonyms only if the prompt words:

Ambition: dream, longing, desideratum, avidity Change: metamorphosis, revolution, vicissitude.