Climate Change: The Burning Issue

Fires ravaged vast areas of land across Australia during the last few months of 2019, and well into the start of 2020. Amanda D'costa, David Terelinck, and I felt that we could create awareness of what is happening around us through tanka. Numerous poets around the world joined in and supported our cause. During the months of February and March 2020, we raised a total amount of $1365 AUD ($880.97 USD). Thank you for your wonderful and wholehearted support. This amount has been donated to Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, in New South Wales, Australia. 

Congratulations to all the winners, and a big thank you to all who have supported this contest and fundraiser by way of tanka and donations.

The winners of this contest went above and beyond in terms of quality, extending the metaphor and the inferred emotion. Click the link to find the results. 

Inaugural Issue of Ephemerae (part 1)

I'm so honored to have this tanka sequence, a collaboration with fellow poets, published in the first issue of Ephemerae. Thanks to the editor, Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy, for accepting this!

Different Paths


the wattle dies
from too much water—
all the ways
he finds to avoid
saying 'I love you'                                                   David Terelinck

low clouds
swallow the echoes
thicken the dark—
for the last kilometer
no words between us                                             Violette Rose-Jones

full stop
at a fork in the road
this time
will we choose
different paths                                                         Carol Judkins

row upon row
of casino slots . . .
the odds
of loving for life,
of beating the house                                               Donna Buck

street kids
jingling coins
in tin cups
weighing the value
of the little we've left                                               Christine L. Villa

patterns
across the cliff face
lives sculpted
by summer dream
and winter storms . . .                                             Carole Harrison

Frameless Sky Issue 3

     Frameless Sky Issue 3 is hot off the press and available to purchase! - http://framelesssky.weebly.com/purchase.html

     I thank all the 40 contributors turning this issue into a successful poetry video. I wouldn't have done it without their support, patience, and cooperation.

 

 

     And of course, I haven't forgotten my team.

 

 

      I am also thrilled to announce that there is a special feature added to the array of poetic gems. In this current issue, you'll be able to watch the video recording of Claire Everett and David Terelinck's tanka sequence, "Whispered Vows," being read by the poet Beverley George and her husband.

     I can't wait for those who are interested in getting a copy to see the full video. For the meantime, here's a sneak peek ~ https://youtu.be/DgHgIhO528Y

     By the way, I've created a Frameless Sky account on Pinterest. So if you are one of those hook on Pinterest, start pinning away! I'm in the process of updating it.

 

     I've also created my own dvd covers. Shades of violet with butterfly stickers. :-)

    

  

First place, Annual Tanka Contest 2015

     Before I start updating this blog, let me share this advance birthday gift. :-)

 

     Thank you so much to Amanda D'Costa of Mandy's Pages and to the two distinguished judges, Claire Everett and David Terelinck.

 



Judging Report by Claire Everett and David Terelinck

 

Thank you to Amanda D’Costa for asking us to judge the 2015 Annual Tanka Contest for Mandy’s Pages. We are honoured to have been entrusted with this role of reading and selecting winners and short-listed entrants from a field of 108 tanka. 

 

When submitting tanka to competitions it is always important for entrants to have a solid grasp of what a tanka is. Just because a short poem has five lines does not automatically make it a tanka. This genre has a rich background that has defined what tanka is today. Unfortunately many of the submissions to this contest fell short of being tanka in a number of criteria. Equally, some strong tanka with vivid imagery might have been placed in this competition were it not for a misplaced word or poorly thought-out line breaks. 

 

As judges we were always looking for poetry within the poem. This means the cadence and rhythm of the writing, lyrical word usage, appropriate imagery, fresh metaphors and a new way of expressing emotion. A key criteria for these judges has always been show, don’t tell. We looked for tanka that started and finished strongly and did not trail away in the last lines. Too many tanka fell victim of cliché, or started beautifully, only to fall flat with an unimaginative image, emotion or observation as juxtaposition. Tanka that was topical, relevant and contemporary, yet showed respect to centuries of history that have preceded us, also rated highly in our deliberations. 

 

First place went to an outstanding tanka that was lyrical and suggestive. There was a true understanding of the poetic use of language to create an image and understated emotive layer No overt feeling is mentioned and it is left to the reader to define the effect of these words as they journey with this tanka.

 

1st place

 

his stand

on chemotherapy . . .

a bluebird’s cry

nestles in the palm

of sunrise 

 

The tanka employs usual metaphor and imagery in the last three lines. There is much room for interpretation as to whether this belief in cytotoxic therapy is supported or denied. Is this the bluebird of happiness and hope . . . or is this the blueness we associate with sadness and pending loss? The reader has plenty of space to ruminate on the possible interpretations of this tanka. Are we to think that the subject of the poem has changed his mind, or does the voice of the poem wish, or hope, that he will? Subtle allusions to the medical setting add strength to this tanka when one considers the alternative meaning of ‘stand’; the cry of the ‘bird in the hand’ is also reminiscent of the motto and calls to mind the medication that might be sustaining life, and hope. The image “nestling in the palm of sunrise” is striking and it is possible the poet meant that the outcome of this choice literally rests in the hands of god? 

 

     To read more, here's the link.