LesleyScoble.com

For the #Haikai Challenge II #3 (1/20/24): Wolf Moon Frank Tassone invites us to write a Haikai of our choice, (haiku, senryu, tanka, kyoka, haibun, haiga, renga, etc.) that alludes to the Wolf Moon (Urufumūn).

January’s full Wolf Moon reaches peak illumination on the 25th of January (in the UK at 17:54)

First, I wrote the Wolf Moon in free verse. I then used this poem to inspire a haiku and then this tanka, which I publish. Is this a long-winded way of working out a tanka? I don’t know, but I find free verse easier to write!

Hungry wolves howling
Ko’ko Burrowing Owl sits
beneath the fearless wolf moon
dazzling frozen stars,
and smokes his pipe, listening.

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Here is the Wolf Moon free verse version. Just in case you’re interested to see where I stole from it for the tanka.

Wolf Moon

The wolf moon full and bright
in the cold of mid-winters' night
High up, high,
It gleams in the cold firmament,
of a glittering sky

Unafraid to be seen
in the keen, keening wind
among dazzling frozen stars
Shining,
Glistening

Hungry wolves
howl
pining, on the prowl.

A Native American called Ko’ko Burrowing Owl
sits wrapped beneath its light
in a warm blanket cowl
Smoking a pipe,
Listening.

Lesley Scoble, January 2024

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NOTES

Wolves and Man
In my illustration, I paint a wolf sitting alongside a native American. To illustrate that wolves hunted alongside man. Humans had an alliance with the wolf 40, 000 years ago.

The wolves tracked large prey and when they tired, man would move in for the kill. This saved the wolf from the most dangerous part of the hunt and man didn’t need to track and chase (doesn’t the Post Office do this today? Lol. Please forgive, but I cannot resist a pun. Anyone who uses Track and Trace when they post a parcel will know what I’m prattling on about). The benefits of this hunting partnership were saving man’s energy in not needing to track and chase the elk, bison, or whatever the prey was. For the wolf, the benefit was the protection from the danger of killing large, dangerous animals. Both Man and wolf would then share the feast.

Wolf-dogs assisted modern man in taking over Europe when they helped vanquish the Neanderthal.

This incredible bond between man and the wolf seems lost today with man’s relentless, cruel hunting of the wolf.

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Thank you, Frank Tassone, for your inspiring Haikai poetry prompt.

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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.