#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge #ThemePrompt #Choka #Tanka @ColleenChesebro #poetry #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #poems #themes

Hello, beautiful readers! During last month's #TankaTuesday Weekly Poetry Challenge on theme prompts, Colleen Chesebro chose my poem to highlight, giving me the honor of choosing the next theme. After playing with a few themes, I chose to go with beginnings and endings. I knew the poets who participate in her challenges would each bring his/her own perspective to this theme, and they did not disappoint. You can read their poems here. 

Even though it was my theme, it took me a while to sit down and allow the words to flow onto a page. Since the pandemic began, I've found myself on a journey of healing and growth. Part of that journey has been about shifting perspectives. For as long as I can remember, I've had a strong negative inner voice. I used to try to suppress and ignore her, which only made her stronger. So, now I listen and then offer myself a new way of seeing things. It isn't always easy, but I'm celebrating my successes. So, I chose to focus on the beginnings that come after the endings.

This week, I tried my hand at a choka poem. In her poetry cheat sheet, Colleen explains that a choka uses couplets of an alternating 5-7 syllabic pattern with the last two lines having seven syllables each. She also explains that they were followed by a shorter poem called a hanka. For my hanka, I've added a tanka poem. Enjoy! :-)

(courtesy of @JoshuaWoroniecki at Pixabay)

Mother Nature sheds

old skin and begins again

each and every spring

after sunset comes sunrise

new moons bring full moons

raging fires foster growth

matter finds a way

nothing is gone forever

even love will be reborn

  

how do you see it?

perspective is everything

one must choose whether

to focus on loss and grieve

or to celebrate the new