Monday, January 18, 2010

No. 2 Pencil & Tanka Poem














Today: quiet day...

a day to sit with long dreams.

Hold this boat steady.

Hold this Foolish heart so still.

A quiet day in deep rain.


Drawing - 2.5 x 3.5 inches.
This was from the No. Pencil series I had done the weekend after Christmas, but I forgot to share it.
The poem is my first attempt at a Tanka poem which I first learned from Dan Gurney.
I very much like the syllabic structure: 5 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7.

The heartfelt place this poem came from was soon covered in laughter (at myself) as I sat here rolling my eyes to the ceiling to think, silently mouthing the words while simultaneously tapping my finger on the edge of the table. Hahahaha! Hope I got it right!
Ahhhh, the sacred and the profane! So deep. So silly. Me.

5 comments:

  1. Oh, how lovely! The pencil drawing is so full of feeling...is there someone near to you who's had open heart surgery?

    And the Tanka: you got it very right. Wonderful! Tanka is such a wonderful form for our time and for our language. Haiku's brevity makes it just a bit too confining for many subjects; Tanka offers the beauty of brevity without the austerity.

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  2. first off....crazy good...
    secondly:

    'And the Tanka: you got it very right. Wonderful! Tanka is such a wonderful form for our time and for our language. Haiku's brevity makes it just a bit too confining for many subjects; Tanka offers the beauty of brevity without the austerity.'

    now that's something this 'folk -a- billy' would like to try...hmmmpff!

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  3. Love the drawing and the poem. I miss "deep rain," here in the dry southwest.

    I'm going to have to try this Tanka thing; it's been a while.

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  4. your emotions dance on the page beautifully

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  5. hello jenny! i love the wavy forms and the wall behind the man and woman. the words - long dreams and hold this boat still - resonate!!!! thanks. steven

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