Tag Archives: Tanka

in retrospect


in retrospect

civilization
left to gerrymandered right
exposed their dark side,
extreme-powered corruption,
chaos-fed barbarism,

where democracy
was devoured by madness
and pro-life killers

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2023 Challenge Day Twenty; Have you ever heard someone wonder what future archaeologists, whether human or from alien civilization, will make of us? Today, I’d like to challenge you to answer that question in poetic form, exploring a particular object or place from the point of view of some far-off, future scientist? The object or site of study could be anything from a “World’s Best Grandpa” coffee mug to a Pizza Hut, from a Pokemon poster to a cellphone.

Today’s prompt took me down a dark rabbit hole. Things right now are completely mad. I can’t imagine what future generations will think of us. The poetry form: a tanka/senryu combo.

the transparent forest

Bramlett Mountain just beyond the lattice veil on a brisk December morning. ~kat myrman 2022
the transparent forest

anything but bleak
season of lace-veiled slumber
secrets of summer
revealed, now dormant nests
and far-off mountain vistas

a backdrop for dreams
beauty in simplicity
where sky’s the limit

don’t sleep too soundly
there is so much to be gleaned
wisdom to ponder
when darkness overtakes us
frost bends the light like crystal

~kat

A tanka-haiku-tanka for the season.

a tanka

an activist judge
decreed covid’s end
no need to wear masks
eat, drink, live your life, be free
while the plague mutates, raging

~kat

Na/GloPoWriMo 2022 – Day 26 Prompt: write a poem that contains at least one of a different kind of simile – an epic simile. Also known as Homeric similes, these are basically extended similes that develop over multiple lines.

Off topic…a tanka for today…just a commentary on the lunacy of our times. Science? Reason? Reality? I’m in no hurry to join the lemmings.


stop and smell the roses

Photo courtesy of RoonZ-nl on Pixabay.com
“stop and smell the roses”

stop trying to please
and take some time for you to
smell spring’s sweetness in
the moments after the rain
roses misted, dressed in red

~kat

NaPoWriMo2022 -Day 6 Prompt: write a variation of an acrostic poem. But rather than spelling out a word with the first letters of each line, I’d like you to write a poem that reproduces a phrase with the first words of each line.

To challenge myself even more, this poem was created using Original Magnetic Poetry online in the format of a Tanka 😊

Tanka Tuesday Trio

A Shadorma (3/5/3/3/7/5) for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge. Today’s Prompt: Poet’s Choice, following Colleen’s suggestion to give thanks this December as the year draws to an end.

in the end
compassion prevailed
but only
by a thread
history in the making’s
ours for the taking


Also tried a Gogyohka. Each line of a Gogyohka comprises one phrase with a line-break after each phrase or breath.

nightmares
do not linger
in the minds
of daydreamers
roused by the light


And finally a Tanka. 57577

thank you dear strangers
for caring about others
for wearing a mask
to all unlikely heroes
we see you; we won’t forget

~kat

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