This post is written for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday prompt. Colleen says:
This week for #TankaTuesday we’re in the season of: The Beginning of Autumn(August 7 – 21) Risshu 立秋, as we follow the 24 Seasons of Japan. The dates are based off of the lunisolar calendar, often called an agricultural calendar. The traditional Chinese and Japanese lunisolar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms.
This is the second week of the Beginning of Autumn. Every two weeks, we will move into another season in the 24 Japanese Seasons HERE.
This week: To celebrate the name of our new syllabic journal, the Northern & Southern Hemispheres come together for a theme prompt. Your writing invitation is to choose one of the 24 Forms for your poem and write about:
🌻 sunflower(s) 🌻
It’s not mandatory, but if you can add another kigo word, please choose a kigo word and/or phrase from the Part I challenge post HERE, or you can use the kigo words from the autumn season on 500 Kigo Words.
Extra Credit if you write tanka or tanka prose!
🌻Wow🌻 Did you read the good news in the link?
Very exciting!
The good news dazzles me like the photo above. 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽
My Tanka Prose for this week
Sweet is the night air over the moon-blanched land that gives rise to
confusion, many—like, why is it
flooding over there when we could
use some rain over here to cool
sidewalks and prematurely scorched
and turf-burned fields? I want to
walk across the fields during the day like I used to—barefoot and vibrant—to go talk to the sunflowers: the
sunflowers, miles, and miles of
golden green; the sunflowers, those
big bold bloomers that tower over
tall true lilies.
Ah, sunflowers, wary of time—it’s a long slow noon for them all day—just watch them follow the sun and how their necks elongate every time you look… and waving, waving with their blinding gold papier-mâché petals.
Tall and proud they stand—even under the moon’s glow which translates to advanced intuition; for what is moonlight if not the sun’s reflection? They never retire from trying to go higher and higher. I want to learn to be like sunflowers.
If you are distressed
Cast your eyes on the blanched land
Most likely than not
You’ll see the flower of light
Gleam you with vitality
Copyright ©️ Selma
Kigo: flower of light/sunflower, gleam, vitality
((Gleam (v) shine brightly, especially with reflected light))
Thanks for reading.
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Wonderful photography. Beautiful Sunflower 🌻! I like sunflower. When Sun rise then sunflower blooming. I watched in field. Nice written poem.
Tack Care, Selma ☺️
Thanks for sharing that with me Raj. Wonderful flower. Be cool.
It’s a beautiful poem Selma. Very inspiring too
Thanks so much, dear Sadje.
Delighted you read, VJ. 🤗
Most welcome dear friend 💞
Lovely post!
🤗 Thanks for reading dear VJ
My pleasure, Selma
Selma, I’m bringing Tanka Tuesday back to the premium plan. It will be available after everything transfers over and I fix the blog. It was better to do this now than later. 💖
Hi Colleen. I noticed it was put on private. Thanks for letting me know it was going through some changes. Be well dear friend. We’re all here 🤗
Happy beginning of Autumn to you. Xo
Thanks so much, Selma. I want to get the site ready for our new challenge. There’s a lot going on in October. Thanks so much. I hope you are well. 🧡
Doing well. Typhoon graced us. We got lots of rain. ☔️ 👏🏽
I’m just glad you’re ok. A typhoon and an earthquake! 🤯
Hi Selma, I am sorry about your continuing dry heat. I think we have something similar ahead this summer. Thanks also for the shoutout about the ‘good news’.
The shoutout about the news. Wow. Everything you touch, shines Robbie. You and Colleen, a great combination.
It finally rained in my area. It took a whole typhoon to pour buckets of rain over our roofs. We needed it. Today we’re back to heat but the rain was a godsend. Thanks Robbie
I’m so happy to hear that, Selma ☔️💦🌨️
Me too
Beautiful🌻🌻🌻
Thanks Maggie
My pleasure Selma 🤗
Definitely a flower of light.
If only we could send the weather where it is needed…(K)
Flower of light 👏🏽
It finally rained yesterday K. In bucketful. A typhoon graced us… all is back to normal “normal” today. Be well.
THat’s good news.
Yup. Thanks K 🤗
OMG! The beginning of autumn, already? Then I must try to embrace it, as I did last year 🍂 🧡
NO, we have one more month and I’m going with my last summer poem.. lol 🥺😂❣️
🤣🙏❤️
Embrace it. Yes. Already. This idea is stellar. Xo
oh such beautiful ode to the sunflowers, Selma❣️
Absolutely beautiful. Made my Sunday. Thanks so much 🤗
Sunflowers have that magic to follow the light… May we all be able to walk greened lands that blossom with all the different produce and grains that keep us healthy and alive.
Some questions we cannot answer – as to why the weather parches or floods… Just that we should help all who are bemoaned by the extremes. Let kindness prosper for all living things.
Wonderful post! I love sunflowers.
Sun Flowers. 👏🏽 me too
What a beautiful post, Selma. I loved the art work too! I added you to the post. I had WP bring Tanka Tuesday back to the premium plan. It took longer than I thought it would. 🌻
Your poetry is stunning, Selma. What a lovely tribute to the beauty of sunflowers and their resilience.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the poem, D. 🤗 bless you always.