Amotisse week thirty

Pre web leisure, Tanka and juxtaposition.

Monday afternoon…leisurely sipping cups of tea and enjoying a few chapters of a steampunky adventure. 
I started downloading my next audio book, discovering sometime later, that my internet connection is flashing red instead of green. 
​So far the usual remedies haven’t worked, so I am off line for the evening and find myself slightly frustrated and wondering (though I kind of know really because I was there), what did we do before we became ensnared in the world wide web?  Do you remember life pre-internet?  Tell me about it.  In the meantime, I’ll be waiting till tomorrow to send our weekly prompts out there!
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In the book Write Every day by Harriet Griffey,
a Tanka is described as a short poem of five lines and a rhythm of (usually) 5, 7, 5, 7, 7 beats.
 
In the book, Rip the past Adventures in Creative Writing by Karen Benke,
 
One way to write a Tanka is: 
 
1. name an object from nature
2. choose three words that describe your object
3. What does your object do? Or how does your object move?
4. Where is your object in time and space? Be as specific as you can
5. What do you have that your object doesn’t have?
No___________, no______________, no___________________
 
 
Here is our classroom group effort
 
Stars
Light yellow bright
Twinkling eyes in the sky
Millions of night guardians
No sadness no anger no worries
 

Juxtaposition
 
Formulas are an amusing way of getting started with something.  A little like a recipe, follow the steps, then wait and see the results!  I really loved this one from Rip the past Adventures in Creative Writing by Karen Benke
 
Take a piece of paper and fold it in half lengthwise.
With the crease on your right:
 
Write down ten words you like.
Add a descriptive word in front of each word, if you like.
 
Flip the paper over (don’t unfold it) so the crease is on the left.
 
Write down the month or season you were born.
Write down a day of the week.
Write down ‘the past’, ‘the present’ or ‘the future’.
Write down a favourite colour.
Write down ‘my heart’.
Write down ‘my imagination’.
Write down a feeling state (joy, sadness, amazement)
Write down a type of weather (mid-week rain, smooth sunshine)
Write down a small sound (tiny whispers, puppy snores, grunts…)
Write down a favourite food.
 
Unfold the paper and write ‘Poetry is’ at the top (or ‘My imagination is’, ‘Inside my heart is’, ‘My life is’, ‘Creativity is’…), then combine your list from either side of the page with the word ‘of’ sitting between each column.  Mix and match from each side of the page until you find an example of juxtaposition-putting two unlike things together (side by side) to wake up your ears and make your mouth smile.
 
 
Poetry is…
 
Autumn Sundays,
twinkling stars,
the present moment
and my wine red heart.
Poetry is restless leaves,
my imagination painting
a tempest of awe and wonder.
Poetry is hopeful murmuring,
intuition and universal symbols.
Poetry is moist petrichor
and weightless olives.
Poetry is being.