NaHaiWriMo 2021 Day 18

Today’s prompt was pride.

  Ego
not asking for help
strong people do it themselves
try not to complain
a big branch breaks under the
weight of all the ice and snow

So this happens every year, and today I just went with it. My poem flowed out into 5 lines instead of 3 making it a tanka. Also, I know you’re all tired of hearing about ice and snow but it was too poetic to not publish.

If you have liked any of my poetry this month, or if you are liking my art, or the photos that I post on Instagram, please consider donating to my Ko-fi account.

It is hard to be a blogger, SAHM, or an artist without the help of your community. And I am all 3! So I started a Ko-fi account. It’s pronounced “coffee” but with a English accent as it is a UK based company.

Basically you can donate to my art without having to make an account or do anything more strenuous than what you would do on Amazon. You find my page and “buy me a coffee” which is you giving me a $3 donation so that I can afford to make my art without having to resort to making telemarketer calls to your phone. Or so that I don’t have to guilt people into buying a store credit card at the mall, or work fast food.

You can find the link to my Ko-fi account on my About Me page. Right now I have a small goal. After this goal gets met I’ll be setting another goal to help me buy a camera.

This is how artists today find their patrons and supporters. If you can’t leave me a donation, then give me a share so that others can discover my work, here and on Instagram (link on my About Me and This Blog page). I am currently using Instagram as a portfolio, but Ko-fi can work as a portfolio and a shop. My big goal is to get a shop open on Ko-fi by the end of this year.

Tanka Tuesday | Bright

    Bright
orange and hot pink
evening sun so intense
I close the blinds
but then we miss the sunset
having to embrace intensity
  12-16-20

I think this poem explains where most of us are at. If we want to enjoy what is left of life, we are going to have to brave some intense things.

Tanka Tuesday | Green

death hovers in the air
we crack open the door to look
the trees have buds
the birds sing and we know that
spring is here with new life

    Green

death hovers in the air
we crack open the door to look
the trees have buds
the birds sing and we know that
spring is here with new life

    3-26-2020

I am writing more and more tanka. Maybe I will officially bring back Tanka Tuesday. Maybe instead of trying to force haiku I will enjoy writing in 5 lines for a while. Follow me to see what I come up with.

Winter Morning Tanka Tuesday

Gone
winter morning
dad has sold all of his cows
empty family farm
a new snow brings silence
peace takes an unexpected form
1-30-2019

 

It is wintertime. This winter is different for some people. It will be different for my parents. For the first time since they bought their farm over 35 years ago, they will not have cattle to tend to. But it is time for their life to start calming down and be less stressful so this is a good thing.

Revival | Tanka Tuesday

  Revival
the maples turn first
the trees know when the season
to change is here
they do not rush into it
they do not lag behind
  10-27-19

 

I told you in Thursday’s post that I had gone to my church’s revival and that it had refreshed me. I feel like I am changing seasons myself. Don’t forget that tanka are supposed to be autobiographical. Here is my newest tanka. On the first day of winter, I will share another five-line poem with you.

Tanka Tuesday in Autumn

  Autumn Afternoon
leaves drift mindless
I try to be disciplined
to-do lists
new exercise routines
this is not my dying season

  10-2-19

 

Day two turned into a tanka. Are you doing any 30-day Challenges for October? Are you thinking of doing anything in November?

Tanka Tuesday on 5th Saturday

  5th Saturday
five Saturdays
the calendar says
but everything
is happening today
when I want to do nothing

June 29, 2019

 

Isn’t it funny how you can go for weeks wanting something to do, or maybe you are even stuck inside doing nothing, then bam! You have to be three places in one day. This tanka was written while I was standing in a parking lot, on a day when I traveled all day long.

Tanka Tuesday | Moonlight

Moonlight
moonlight and
sunshine after the sun is down
a good example
of how to be helpful
even after you’re gone
7-24-19

 

I have written some more tanka, so every now and then you will get a Tanka Tuesday. This tanka is about how I realized the other day that moonlight is sunlight. There’s really no such thing as “moonlight” because the light that you are seeing is coming from the sun and bouncing off of the moon.

Much of my recent poetry that I haven’t shared is fall themed. It is so easy to write for that season. I have written and shared most of my winter haiku. I will try to write more winter haiku as the season approaches and as we are in it. My son pointed out yesterday that we are in a season of change, and many new things are happening. I should have a lot of new poetry for you soon. Follow me to see it when I post it.

Days 21 -25

 

Reality

glowing cell phone

songbird with a broken back

under the window

she flew into a reflection

it wasn’t the real thing

 

Yes, it is a tanka, but at least I got something written.

 
 

only seeing

my part of the forest

blind squirrel

 

when the whole flock

lands at the birdfeeder

mom’s casserole

 

learning how far

he can project his voice

boy in the school play

 

trying to shape

the prettiest part of me

with a plastic brush

 
 
Okay guys, some of these are senryu rather than haiku, but this is what came out when I wrote for the prompts.
sidenote: This post did not come out okay, but I got my computer rebooted. Hopefully my desktop computer is working tomorrow because posting from the app is a nightmare for a poet.

Cinquain Sleep

 

  Sleep
Deep rest,
sometimes it is
elusive, makes you feel
brand new, like you have hit reset,
peaceful.

11-1-16

 

I wrote this poem for #5prompt on Twitter and then saved it and forgot about it. It is a cinquain. I am loving five line types of poetry more and more. What is your favorite form of poetry? How many lines do you like a poem to have?

September is Sad

  Aging
crumpled post-it note
the first of my classmates dies
a shock to us all
I forget how to spell her last name
it seems all our names have changed

9-8-2016
RIP Ellen Doherty

 

It has been two years since the first of my friends, the first of my classmates has died. I know that I’ve been blessed, but it is still crazy to think that we have already lost a friend. She didn’t make it to 30. September is a sad month for me, I have had a lot of people die during this month. I seriously relate to that song “Wake me up when September ends.”

Forgotten Tanka on Tanka Tuesday

 

 

   Autumn Colors

the season of dying

everyone’s favorite time

they like the colors

but forget the lesson

die to be born again

  September 6, 2017

 
 

So I had saved this little poem about me wondering why people think the way that they do, and I forgot to save it to my master file of tanka and haiku. But I found it!

What do you think?