I wrote my new Shadorma series poem Celestial Fantasy in response to #Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge No. 21, where this week’s host, Melissa Lemay, invites us to write a Shadorma series inspired by a choice of paintings by the artist Alma Thomas. I chose the painting titled Celestial Fantasy, 1973, acrylic on canvas, by Alma Thomas.
To read the Shadorma prompt details click here
The Shadorma consists of a six-line stanza (or sestet). Each stanza is written as 3-5-3-3-7-5 for a total of 26 syllables with no set rhyme scheme. When writing a Shadorma, I would concentrate on a specific subject. Add a title to the Shadorma.”
With this in mind, let’s write a Shadorma series (two or three, I’ll let you pick) using the paintings in this post. You may use one painting to inspire all your syllabic poetry, or perhaps you’d like to use several. Look at the paintings, their colors, and titles, and see where they take you.
Celestial Fantasy
written & narrated by Lesley Scoble
calm blue seas
in gentle ripples
are stirring
from dreaming
celestial fantasies
and awakening
rising waves
in zig-zagging spume
crescendo
in cosmic
starlit pink and green auras
in chanting cadence
—Lesley Scoble, July 2025
Music Audio – narration
Alma Thomas’s abstract painting lends itself beautifully to a graphic score. To me, it sings with dynamic climbing arpeggios—though they’re not present in this particular rendition 😁. Still, I hope you enjoy this interpretation.
THANK YOU
My thanks to Melissa Lemay for encouraging and inspiring me to craft a Shadorma series.
My heartfelt gratitude to you the reader, for reading / listening to my poem 🙏
To find out more about #Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenges follow the link below.
LesleyScoble.com 
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