Today is a day for a Tan-ku, a conversation between a tanka and a haiku. Thanks to the #PoetryPals for suggesting it. Tanita explains more about it here.
I’m also taking the Coursera.org class Tabatha told us about a couple of weeks ago. The course is called, “Sharpened Visions.” Our lesson this week was about using metaphor and more. I’m not sure my vision is sharpening, but I’m trying. We also learned about “a conceit,” which is an extended metaphor, like in John Donne’s “The Flea.” I had never heard of a conceit before.
Anyway, I was thinking of metaphors when I wrote my tan-ku. I tried to make the haiku answering back to the tanka, as if in conversation.
A Tank-ku for America
lesion of power
cultural bacteria
pus-filled, blistered ooze
hindering advances made
our sickly democracy
antibiotic
prescription needed A-SAP
Not too late to heal
Professor Kiah Duggins,
Civil rights attorney, brave
and beautiful. Lost too young.
Links
The Poetry Box Chapbook Prize – Opens February 1 – March 15, 2025.
National Federation of State Poetry Societies Annual Poetry Contests