#tankaTuesday

navigations

superimposed lines–
pick them up, examine
the landscapes beneath,

follow the intersections–
the map of bodyworn years

I chose the theme for Colleen’s #Tanka Tuesday prompt #192, Maps, but did not get a chance to post my response. When I pulled it out to look at it this morning it took awhile to remember my creative process.

I wanted to use a map of NYC and a self-portrait and layer them somehow. I had seen a layered piece of art that used holes cut in the top layer which I liked. The challenge was to make the holes work with the portrait underneath.

As usual, I managed to take off a few years from my face in my drawing, but otherwise I think it’s a pretty good likeness. Our faces contain many maps, but sometimes you have to look closely to see them.

the beach at night

eclipsed mandala s

can moonlight tumble?
reflections transformed by waves–
diamonds in the foam

moonlight tumbles–
reflections transformed–
diamond foam

moon
light
foam

eclipsed close up s

For Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday where the theme, chosen by Franci Hoffman, is the night sky.  I did not get to the beach this year, but I’m remembering the magic of past summer nights by the ocean.

And once again using art from the archives.

Fore and Aft

moondrunk close up s

Sea, moon, sails–
are words a story?
Wonder.  Where.
The journey
ends.  Compassed and jibed.  Adrift
and dreaming.  Betides.

the moon is dreaming s

 

A shadorma for Colleen’s #tanka Tuesday, using synonyms for circled and squared, and for Sarah at dVerse who asks us to consider boats.

reverie close up s

Once again I’ve dipped into my art archives for the illustrations.

the chorus of everywhere

tree 2

“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.”
Hermann Hesse

stop making
maps—destinations
are without
meaning—this
journey does not follow roads
to faraway lands

look around
at the familiar
landscape—light,
water, stone,
the patterns of trees joining
wings to earth and sky

listen to
the stillness of no
time—listen–
suspend all
expectations—what you need
is already here

tree 2 close up s

For Colleen’s #Tanka Tuesday, a shadorma chain inspired by a quote from Hermann Hesse, selected by Sue Vincent.

tree 1s

borderlands

borderlands 1s

time
distills
into the
slow motion of
half-forgotten hours–
astral sunsets emerge
inside the dense dazzled air–
waiting to join the fading light
that veils the edge between earth and sky

A nonet for Sue Vincent’s photo prompt, above, and Colleen’s #tanka Tuesday, with synonyms for blessed and hex, provided by Anita Dawes.

borderlands 2s

I did two  rorschach paintings which turned out slightly different.

wings 2s

But somehow I always end up with wings.

wings 1s

 

on the sands of time

on the sands s

on the sands of time

A found poem from Longfellow’s “A Psalm of Life”, the theme suggested by Pat R. for Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday.  I’ve constructed a shadorma with the help of the Collage Oracle.

“…Lives of great men all remind us
   We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
   Footprints on the sands of time…”

on the sands close up s

be not like
time—fleeting, mournful,
pursuing
fate—within
each bivouac is a dream–
heart sailing the soul

byways

byways s

earth and its creatures
magic in shadow
byways reflected moonward
starpaths that carry
the edges of endless tides

Colleen gave us the photo, above, as our #Tanka Tuesday inspiration.  My collage and gogyohka approach it from a distance.

byways close up s

After I saw how Jude at Tales Told Different reversed the order of his tanka lines to make a new and complementary poem, I decided to try it with my 5 lines.  To my surprise, it also works when turned around…an unplanned bonus.

the edges of endless tides
starpaths that carry
byways reflected moonward
magic in shadow
earth and its creatures

we tell the same story again and again

the same stories s

Is this
what we say when
words cross, intersect with
essence?  What point is created?
is it

an end,
a beginning
meeting as paradox,
the sum we call zero?  Nothing
happens

and yet
everything is–
a birth peeling off time
into all possibilities–
is it

the moon
reflecting sun,
breath and sky dissolving
layer by layer?  Finally
the sea

returns
the well-worn path
as a mercurial
map, constantly rearranging
the bones.

Is this
a beginning,
a birth peeling off time
layer by layer?  Finally,
the bones.

the same stories close up s

Colleen challenged us to write a garland cinquain for her Tanka Tuesday prompt.  I’ve used synonyms for the words provided this week by Linda Lee Lyberg, nimble and enigma.

I do seem to tell the same story over and over again.  But perhaps I’m getting a bit better at it.

(‘fore) casted

forecast s

attention
wanders, feet moving
by rote, the
mind busy
with itself—unaware of
color sound or sky—

dark spots on
the sidewalk—rain wakes
me from an
already
forgotten reverie–like
Crow calling my name

forecast close up s

A shadorma pair for Colleen’s #tanka Tuesday, poet’s choice of words, inspired by the dVerse word provided by Sarah, rain.

 

sustenance

drawing-constellations-s

sustenance magnetic s

For Colleen’s #tanka tuesday, using a quote supplied by Merril Smith, below, as inspiration.

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

crazy quilt

I’ve been in a creative funk the past few days, so I consulted the Oracle for some help with my shadorma sequence. And once again, I’m recycling some old art.

what lingers
within the workings
of a life
time    dancing
home by remembering the
rhythms of the stars

roots seeding
trees that grow between
deep earthlight
beholding
to the cycles stitched full through
what shines from the heart