I open my eyes to
solitary mornings–
no clear signs or warnings
of what comes next.
I can’t travel through time
when days seem to be
horizonless—empty,
lost in details.
What is important can
never be known until
it is gone—and we fill
the unseen with
repetition as we
continue—hoping then
hiding—wondering when
we will move on.
I formulate questions
that have no proper place–
the answers hesitate–
waiting. Waiting.
For Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday, poet’s choice. I decided to try a new form from The Poet’s Collective index of Syllabic Poetry Forms. This one is call abhanga, an Indian poetic form that has a 6/6/6/4 syllable count with a rhyme on the middle two lines.
It seems easy, but it was not, at least for me. I also wasn’t sure what I was writing about, but in the end, it seems to summarize 2020 for me. The art was an exercise I saw to do a shadow doll. That also seems appropriate for this strange year.
K. 
Both the artwork and the poem are very appropriate to 2020, Kerfe – well done!
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Thanks Ingrid. We are going to be processing this year for a long time I think.
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This does seem very much about this past year. I particularly like the second stanza.
Your collage is perfect.
I might have to try this form. 😀
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Thanks Merril. It’s definitely worth a try. The poem is much better because of it. Sometimes I need that focus.
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I meant to work on it for Colleen’s, but just didn’t get to it.
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I was just looking at my list and thinking…I just can’t do everything. Every day I wonder how people have time to be bored.
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😀
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“Hoping then hiding” — and the daunting horizons of your collage — definitely capture my mental state for as long as I can remember now, too. Abhanga is an interesting form; you’d never know it was a challenge for you! I think next time I’m ready to tackle a legitimate poetic form, I’ll give it a try…
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Thanks Sun. Its been a roller coaster, no doubt about it. I do like the discipline of forms every once in awhile. It helps to focus my tendency to rambling.
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Your poem and art reflect what it’s like to live alone in these times. This continuum of days on repeat is so utterly strange.
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Brilliant! I love the rhythm of the abhanga and the rhyming seems perfectly placed. I will definitely look more into this form. I like that it is of Indian origin: https://poetscollective.org/poetryforms/abhanga/ and a part of the language. Your words are so fitting for this year. Your art is spot on, Kerfe. We all feel your words. ❤
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Thanks Colleen. It has been a strange 2020 for sure. I will return to this form as well I think. (K)
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I like this one too.
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‘we fill the unseen with repetition’
Yes, that’s what we have been doing, as if familiarity will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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I wonder if it’s a natural response, if that’s what ritual is all about.
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I think so. Doing the same thing repeatedly gives us the impression of participating in something important. Stop doing it and something terrible happens.
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That’s true. The ritual keeps us from falling apart.
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Something to hold onto.
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