TANKA TAKE HOME: 28th August 2024 - Claire Rosilda Norman- poet of the month

hosts: Firdaus Parvez, Kala Ramesh, Priti Aisola & Suraja Menon Roychowdhury

Introducing a new perspective to our Wednesday Feature!

August 28, 2024

poet of the month: Claire Rosilda Norman

I thought

I'd see you

one more time -

a song-bird

calls down the night

light fails

rain begins

between boredom

and anger

the flight of swallows

We had the pleasure of asking Claire a few questions, and she graciously took the time to answer them. Here is the last:

TTH: Can you give any advice to someone wanting to write and publish tanka? As an editor what are you looking for in a tanka that makes it most likely to get published? Do you show your work in progress to anyone, or is it a solitary art that you keep close to your chest before letting it go for publishing?

Claire: My advice is age old, Practise! Practise! Practise! Read plenty as well. Don't be disheartened if others don't seem to love your poetry the same way you do. We all have different tastes. Write what you love, what matters to you. Be honest. Don't be afraid to rewrite.

I rarely show anyone a work in progress, mainly because I don't know many people who are interested!

We asked Claire for her bio (she eventually admitted to...):

Claire: Hmm... what do I want to admit to?

I am a sixty something woman. My maths is not good, so whenever someone asks my age I have to do a quick calculation, hoping I have got the year right and it is past February. So mostly I just say sixty something.

I am English, I live within walking distance of the North Sea (about two hours walk). I love water in all its forms. I have a fascination for caves as well, though there are not many in this part of the world.

I have been married for a long time, with two children. Also two cats. They have all been a source of joy and inspiration.

Prompt for this week:

Claire, we're truly captivated by your tanka, and we thank you for your time, beautiful poems, and thoughtful advice. This time, I'll leave you all with Claire's tanka, as both offer room for various interpretations. As readers, we often project our own thoughts onto a poem. We'd love to hear your reflections on the two tanka I've shared. This week's prompt is BIRDS—try to fit them into the most unexpected situations and surprise us. Of course, you're welcome to write outside the prompt, but then ... ah! the sparrows! Mostly, have fun!

Important: Since we're swamped with submissions, and our editors are only human, mistakes can happen. Please, please, remember to put your name, followed by your country, below each poem, even after revisions. It really helps our editors; they won't have to type it in, saving them from potential typos. Thanks a ton!

                                          <><>

And remember – tanka, because of those two extra lines, lends itself most beautifully when revealing a story. And tanka prose is storytelling.

Give these ideas some thought and share your tanka and tanka-prose with us here. Keep your senses open, observe things that happen around you and write. You can post tanka and tanka-prose outside these themes too.

An essay on how to write tanka: Tanka Flights here

PLEASE NOTE

1. Post only one poem at a time, only one per day.

2. Only 2 tanka and two tanka-prose per poet per prompt.

   Tanka art of course if you want to.

3. Share your best-polished pieces.

4. Please do not post something in a hurry or something you have just written. Let it

    simmer for a while.

5. Post your final edited version on top of your original verse.

6. Don't forget to give feedback on others' poems.

We are delighted to open the comment thread for you to share your unpublished tanka and tanka-prose (within 250 words) to be considered for inclusion in the haikuKATHA monthly magazine.

Please check out the LEARNING Archives.

New essays are up! https://www.trivenihaikai.in/post/learning-archive

<> <>