Spring tanka challenge

[Saionji Shonagon]

This challenge originally premiered in 2008.

Here's the concept:
Write one tanka (waka)* a day for the month of April.
*Resources on tanka:
www.ahapoetry.com/TANKA.HTM
www.americantanka.com/
www.wodefordhall.com/heianpoetryjam.htm

The spirit of this poetic form being the impermanence of this dewdrop life, no other make-ups are permitted. If you miss a day, you miss a day and as in real life, you never get it back. (You're on the honor system here....)

No limits on subject matter other than any you chose to impose upon yourself. Hopefully, some moment in your day will inspire you to write about it.

If you write more than one tanka a day, fine. However, you may not carry over tanka to other days. You have to write a poem on each day.

(If you are inspired to "answer" someone else's poem, great. Personally, if I do so, I am not going to count it toward my daily assignment. The idea is to come up with something myself each day. What you do is up to you.)

Adherence to the 5-7-5-7-7 line/syllable count is required, otherwise it's not a tanka.

It's poetry, not stereo instructions. It should say something and it should make sense.

No rewrites.

If you want to share your poems, you may post them to this thread or to
community.livejournal.com/tankachallenge/profile

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/1/10

Outside the window
Branches wave their leafy arms
At the wind's prompting.
Clouds vie against the sun and
The final gusts of winter

[Deleted]

Apr 1, 2010 21:17:52 GMT -5 Saionji Shonagon said:

Outside the window
Branches wave their leafy arms
At the wind's prompting.
Clouds vie against the sun and
The final gusts of winter

Outside the window
branches wave their leafy arms.
At the wire's prompt,
splat! Cream pie against my face.
Is it April first so soon?
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/2/10

The day shifts from mist
To drizzle to mist again,
Unceasingly bleak.
Spring's soft breezes cannot come
Quite soon enough to suit me!

[Ishikawa Ayame]

Dark ominous clouds
Greet me as I leave for work
Soft sprinkling rain
Falls on me and don't you know
My umbrella is at home

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/3/10

Mist gives way at last
Before the sun's promenade
Through a cloud pocked sky.
Distant sails toss on the bay
Like petals on the spring breeze.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/4/10

Finally silence,
Broken only by the drip
Of rain from the eaves.
Reluctant to cede its hold,
Winter shakes a stormy fist.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/5/10

I set a challenge
To test myself and perhaps
Create some beauty.
What I do is what I do.
What you do is what you do.

(Prompted by certain activity on LiveJournal. You don't need to know.)

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/6/10

With each blow, thunder
Erupts from the rawhide skins.
Bodies sway and strain.
Through the whirling sticks I think
"I'd better not hit poor Clint!"

(Taiko class this evening got ratcheted all the way to eleven when Sensei decided it would be cool if we pushed the drums a lot closer together.)

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/7/10

The neighbor's dog bays
As dusk deepens. A door slams
Somewhere below me.
Evening settles on the
Neighborhood like an old quilt.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/8/10

They're not in that drawer.
Nor are they in that basket.
Perhaps here - but no!
Search as I might through the house
I cannot find my tabi!

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/9/10 (check the date and time stamp on my Livejournal if you like: gurdymonkey.livejournal.com/457142.html )

Out there the sun shines,
Taunting me in the face of
My daily duties.
Another Friday passes
Far too slowly to suit me.

4/10/10

New mown, dewy grass
Tempst the nose with spring scents as
It chills the toes.
Towering clouds crown the hills
With the promise of more rain.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/11/10

How green are the hills
Peeping through their misty robes
Across the harbor.
Soon it will be the time for
The glow of distant lanterns.

[Saionji Shonagon]

4/12/10

From blushing questions
To the richesse of true art
And friendships like gold:
Renown is not black or white
It is far more colorful.

[Saionji Shonagon]

Against the black hills
Distant lanterns glow softly
Like tiny fireflies.
The random clank of halyards
Rises from the marina.