#TANKATUESDAY Weekly #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 258, #THEMEPROMPT @SyllabicPoetry @ColleenChesebro #tanka #sweetsour

Hello, beautiful readers! Today, Colleen Chesebro's Tanka Tuesday challenge is focusing on the theme, Memories: Sweet & Sour. The first thing that came to my mind was a relationship gone wrong, so I wrote this tanka. For those of you who are learning with me, a tanka has five lines with a 5 7 5 7 7 syllabic pattern. The third line sometimes has a pivot that applies both to the first two lines and the last two lines. I hope you like it. :-)

A whirlwind of love

Promises of forever

Our perfect romance

Shattered by your betrayal

Now broken-hearted strangers

I'd love to hear your thoughts on my sweet & sour poem. If you want to join in on the fun, check out Colleen's posts here. :-)

My Book Journey of 2021 #amreading #books #readingcommunity #readingchallenge #goodreadschallenge @goodreads

Hello, beautiful readers! Every year, I join the Goodreads Book Challenge to keep track of how many books I read for that year. I don't remember what my goal was, but I ended up reading 34 stories. Many of them were short stories because I didn't have a lot of time, but I wanted to share them with you all because I truly enjoyed each and every one of them.

I wish I could post a link for each of these stories to make it easier for you to click on them and buy them because they are all worth reading, but I just don't have that kind of time. If you go to my Reviews page, you can read my review and find the link to these books. 

My goal this year is to read 24 books. Yes, it's less than last year. I'm hoping to write more this year, and I'd rather underestimate and celebrate than overestimate and be disappointed. If you haven't read the books below, please consider reading them. You won't be disappointed. :-)

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 257 #Ekphrastic #PhotoPrompt @ColleenChesebro #Ekphrastic #poetry

Hello, beautiful readers! Colleen Chesebro's Tanka Tuesday challenge this week has us exploring Ekphrastic poetry. When I taught high school, I would use pictures to inspire the students to write all the time, but I never knew it was called this. Today's challenge was inspired by a painting by John William Waterhouse.

When I first saw this painting, it made me think of Valerie, a character from my Chronicle of the Diasodz series. Valerie's hair is brown and straight and the time period is wrong, but the way this woman peers into the crystal ball reminded me of the prophecy Valerie was given when she found out she was pregnant.

So, here is my attempt at writing a haibun. If this is your first visit with me, I should warn you that I am a novice at syllabic poetry. Each week, Colleen challenges us to try new forms. So, if I don't quite write a poem that follows the rules, consider it a learning experience for me. You cannot grow if you do not try. So, I hope you enjoy my response to this week's prompt:

Prophetic Sacrifice

She stared at the globe, where the most likely of many possible futures dissipated into the mist. A tear streamed down her cheek as she cradled her growing bump. The prophecy asked too much of her. She knew what she had to do, but she questioned whether she had the strength to do so.

beautiful unborn

must I make this sacrifice?

our fates intertwine

I hope you enjoyed that. I'd love to hear your thoughts below. If I've inspired you to join in the fun, click here to follow Colleen's challenges. :-)

#TANKATUESDAY #POETRYCHALLENGE #256 @ColleenChesebro #Haiku

Hi, beautiful readers! Colleen's TankaTuesday poetry challenge for this week is all about the haiku. Haikus are traditionally about nature, the seasons, or change. There are several syllabic patterns it can use, but I chose the traditional 5-7-5 pattern. So, here is my contribution:

wild, raging river
it tries to swallow me whole
my raft protects me

When I first read her choice for this week, I immediately thought about last summer's road trip and my river rafting experience with my son. We went to Pigeon Forge, TN. I had taken him a few years ago for his first river rafting adventure. We started with a level 1/2. When it ended, he immediately asked for a level 3/4, which he handled very well. So, this time around, we went straight to the raging river, and it did not disappoint! 

That's us in the front!

I hope you enjoyed my haiku. If you'd like to join me for these poetry challenges, you can follow them here.

#TANKATUESDAY Weekly #POETRYCHALLENGE #255 @SyllabicPoetry @ColleenChesebro #TasteTheRainbow #Tanka

Hi, beautiful readers! Happy new year! I've decided to dabble in syllabic poetry this year after reading some amazing poems from Colleen's weekly challenges. Yesterday's TankaTuesday challenge asked for a syllabic poem of the author's choice that focused on a color.

If you'd like to join me in this creativity, check out Colleen's post here.

I tend to write free verse poetry, so syllabic poetry is going to be a fun challenge for me. I decided to try a Kelly Lune, which consists of a 5-3-5 syllabic pattern. And since yellow is one of my favorite colors, it immediately came to mind. Here is my contribution.

It's a start. Lol! Hopefully, this is the first of many to come. :-)