The NaPoWriMo prompt for day 11 was too much for me. I’m taking a break — you get a tanka. In part because I adore the form: I’ve become a convert, after a few years now of trying to become better acquainted w/ its spare restraint. I used to write long lines, long poems. So I tried the tanka, which seemed to me a leaner version of my beloved sonnet: a 3-line intro, a 2-line shift. If you like the Petrarchan sonnet, the tanka is a logical next step. 😏
Here’s the NaPoWriMo prompt:
And last but not least, here’s our (optional) prompt for the day: the Bop. The invention of poet Afaa Michael Weaver, the Bop is a kind of combination sonnet + song. Like a Shakespearan sonnet, it introduces, discusses, and then solves (or fails to solve) a problem. Like a song, it relies on refrains and repetition. In the basic Bop poem, a six-line stanza introduces the problem, and is followed by a one-line refrain. The next, eight-line stanza discusses and develops the problem, and is again followed by the one-line refrain. Then, another six-line stanza resolves or concludes the problem, and is again followed by the refrain. Here’s an example of a Bop poem written by Weaver, and here’s another by the poet Ravi Shankar.
And here’s a tanka, with no connection to the prompt whatsoever:
Curling through mountains
Blue mist, heavy with cold rain
Beneath, thick green slopes
A single eagle circles
Spiralling on damp blue air
Tea and Breath 