Tag: tanka

Waka Wednesday – 2022.12.14

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Silent, overblown . . .
summer’s ashes fill the air.
Soft light, piercing air
fill this steely land of stone,
frozen ghosts, and icy bones.

I even forgot the title . . .

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Ashes and vapor —
when the world
refuses to end,
I’ll catch what remains
of color and light.

For this is my way:
surviving,
building my fences,
and always looking
for my way back in.

I sure hope everyone is enjoying the Summer, such as it is. I’m working on finding my way through some speedbumps in life, but otherwise clocking along. Maybe that’s just how we have to do it — cutting our losses and moving forward with hope for the future.

Such as it is.

So Much Spin — 2022.05.09

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It’s funny, how they spin —
as if the sun wouldn’t shine
through an open door;
as if light won’t penetrate
through their cracked machination.

Walls always crumble —
whether by tide, time, or force —
into shifting sand;
wide open wilderness
unfolding its Truth.

We inherit ourselves.

I guess this will be one of those days where I work on me and let the poetry stand by itself.

Just give in to the light.

Spotted Knapweed — 2022.04.03

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Searching for a pulse
to elucidate events
unfolding today.
The charm of this noxious weed
is an opportunity.

Stamp it out,
if we were able;
is it hate,
or is it a wish
for greater control?

Fighting nature:
one hand pounding,
one hand reaping,
one hand clapping . . .
silence will fall
and weeds will thrive —
never perfect,
but running wild
with nature’s plan.
Love will survive.

Consider this — 2022.03.18

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What is greatness, but
A tree on earnest soil,
roots of reverence —
long limbs’ labors limitless,
largely spent honing its heart?

Looking to the sky . . .
yearning to find a way up
without letting go,
deeply desiring to dream
and to be dreamt of in art.

reach down through the earth . . .
never stopping, never cease!
Break the foundation,
probing paths for prospective
propagations to start.

Cultivate —

communicate —

Reflection.

Reverence.

Growth.

And here I am again, doing the hard work.

Of course, I never meant for this blog to hibernate, coming back to find so many lost to the donnybrooks of the past several years — the politics and pandemic, so many things that left a bad taste in my mouth and left my mind feeling infertile. I really wish people could just work together to make the world a better place for everyone. Looking back, I believe that in response to these growing situations I stopped trying. I stopped putting down my creative roots to take care of a growing rot in my life, and by the time I had it squared away I had forgotten that I had put my writing in the backseat, and it is so hard getting back to it.

I DESERVE TO BE GREAT.

That is my mantra, which a fellow blogger inspired me to formulate. I had almost forgotten: that is why I moved forward with my plan to change my life in the first place. Not that I feel so great all the time . . . rather, I feel more precarious than ever at times, and I hesitate to move on opportunities because I don’t want to lose out on what I already have, or because I find the process uncomfortable. But I deserve to be great, and I need to aspire to be great in the things I do for this world — locally, and globally. I need to stick my neck out in very real ways if I want to help.

So yes, I DESERVE TO BE GREAT. But “being great” doesn’t happen by itself. I have to make the choices. I have to push for making decent choices, professional decisions . . . to do the right things in life.

Is this what I’m supposed to put on the table when I’m interviewing for a position in the patrol division? It sure sounds good, but I’d really have to sell it. I have to internalize it. Because I do deserve to be great. But I have to make it happen; nobody is going to hand me greatness on a fancy plate because I don’t deserve it for free. We work for everything and we get what we pay for in sweat and blood and honesty.

I keep trying. I keep moving forward, and I’m not perfect. I make a poor judgment call here and there. Even those times are a bridge to being great, and becoming greater still.

We all deserve to be great, don’t we?

Hanging on — 2022.03.08

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Harried by the wind
and grasping for precious life,
persistent chaos
reigns last year’s leaf that shudders
to consider letting go . . .

Clutching, while near spring
Hastens the defrosting ground;
And facing that fall —
Open to options that lead
Somewhere other than earthward . . .

Inevitable
decomposability
inadmissible;
Unassailability
undisguisedly denied.

Follow the links in the poem’s text if you would like to scour the sources of my prompts: Fandango and the Ragtag Community. In their comments sections there is much more to discover!