The W3 Weekly We’ave Poetry Prompt #80 Poet of the Week this week is Melissa Lemay. Please see her guidelines below.
Click here to read Melissa’s prompt guidelines.
Melissa’s Poetry Prompt Guidelines For this week’s W3 poetry prompt, Melissa encourages us to compose a series of three tanka as follows: Following are three “turn lines” or “pivots” (third lines) for the three tanka, and you must construct the rest: 1. Turn / Pivot for tanka #1: “I sit quietly” 2. Turn / Pivot for tanka #2: “Left behind till spring” 3. Turn / Pivot for tanka #3: “Wild geese preen feathers” These tanka are to be autumn/winter-themed; You may write each of your tanka in a single unbroken line of thirty-one syllables, or you may use the five-line 5/7/5/7/7 approach.
I confess I didn’t find it easy writing the three tanka needing to include the set lines. It exercised my brain far too much! I need a rest and shall go to recline somewhere. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the poems.
The Bench: a tanka series
by Lesley Scoble
Tanka 1.
Pigeons watch and wait
Golden leaves fall on the bench
I sit quietly
then open my bag of seed
Wings rush like blustery clouds
“Wings rush like blustery clouds”
Tanka 2.
Snow falls on the bench
My forgotten unread book
left behind till spring;
Its tale can wait for the sun,
thaw, and wind to turn the page.
Tanka 3.
Migrating geese
I see flocks come in; Clamorous sky of the dusk Wild geese preen feathers The low sun gilds their plumes On the bench I dream of flight
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you Melissa for this challenging prompt. Thank you David, The Sketics Kaddish for your Weekly Poetry Prompt. Photos (all snapped by me) Pigeons in the City of London Wildlife Garden. Snow on a bench seat, Barber Surgeons’ Physic Garden, City of London. Migrating Geese, Cley-Next-the-Sea, Norfolk. Poems and Photography©️Lesley Scoble My thanks to Freesounds Library for the audio
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright, (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
Leave a comment