A tanka is a verse form of five lines following the pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. This poem consists of nine tankas that deal with the question, “Does might make right or does write make might?”
Tanks or Tankas?
It is such pleasure
lying in my morning bed,
I forsake those “shoulds”––
pool aerobics and the gym––
save them for another day.
As I exercise
that switchboard of all muscles,
the marvelous brain,
ideas are pumped like barbells
to create a well-toned verse.
Iron man or sage––
which will win and which will lose?
Is it brain or brawn
that moves our species forward
to survive this crazy race?
Our laptops used for
what––as pens or weaponry?
Which serves us better
in this age’s lethal match
for survival, power, wealth?
Which moves us forward?
Philosopher? Iron Man?
Poet? Soldier? Jock?
Which insures our progress toward
a place as Darwin’s fittest?
Physical fitness
in contemporary thought
wins most of the points
to insure a lengthy life
(and a husband or a wife).
but:
They also serve who
sit and wait upon their bums,
writing out their odes
by recording just what comes.
So now you need to tell us
which of these will win:
the muscle man or soldier
or the poet’s pen?
If muscle is your power
If you think that it will win,
please now consider:
the leg may be the longest
of your muscles, but
the largest strongest muscle
is the one you sit upon!
For Colleen’s Tues. Tanka prompt–poet’s choice.
How is it that cats know how to pose no matter how unlikely the props? In this case, it is a bag of concrete Pasiano brought to fasten Frida’s memorial down with. Always fun to see what pose they will be in when I drive into the garage. Here are some further poses from the past .
Click on photos to enlarge.
Damning Science
Wisdom newly learned or tribal,
from Koran or Scroll or Bible
demarcates a line between
what shouldn’t or what should be seen
or said or listened to or done.
No matter how seemingly fun,
some things cannot be integrated.
No masterpiece is tolerated
if banned by the censor’s tool.
Thus do bigots thrive and rule
spouting truths long since belied—
asserting them as bonafide.
These half-truths to reason’s sorrow
may dictate how we live tomorrow—
our whole world screwed up by some fools
who bend the laws to their own rules,
spouting words skewed to their favor,
creating slogans dullards savor.
There is one rule for what the zealots shout.
After you have heard them out,
use your good sense to judge the acts
of those determining the facts.
Use your powers of reason to test
those who rule at our behest.
Prompt words today are masterpiece, tribal, integrated and demarcate
This little orchid, although not perfectly symmetrical, seems more or less to fill the bill.
Kukla and Ollie, Wednesday Afternoon
Kukla and Ollie, Thursday Afternoon. Creatures of Habit.
I went to the orchid show up on the mountain in Mazamitla today. This is one of the beauties I saw.
For Cee’s FOTD
Photo by Nick Collins on Unsplash. Used with permission
Beets
They say there’s a conspiracy in our retired community
to try to form a sort of dietary unity.
Go easy on potatoes and cut down on your beef.
They say such limitations bring intestinal relief.
Cut down on your sodium. Eat fish instead of meats.
Eschew bread and pastry, but double up on beets.
You’ll assuage all your ailments, cut down on your weight,
and a much longer lifetime will likely be your fate.
More years without chocolate. More years without bread.
More years of deprivation. And then you’ll still be dead!!
Prompts for the day are retire, conspiracy, community, assuage and beet.
