Circling 'Round he pursues truth down linear paths disappears ‘twixt thick lines of text grasping blindly in a maze foiled at every angle lines crossed and tangled he’s far afield unaware that he’s lost her powers encompass cycles and spheres universal dance Sun and Moon, Earth’s seasons clarity circling near reciprocation and return magic is held in roundness she knows
The Tanka Tuesday challenge from Colleen Chesebro is to write an Ekphrastic poem, a response to “The Crystal Ball”, a painting by John William Waterhouse. The syllabic form I chose is a double nonet.
ShiftnShake 
This is great, D. I love how those middle lines connect the two. 🙂
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Thank you and yes, it can be read as a loop. A fun challenge.
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Great work! I might reconsider ’roundness’ after your excellent ‘linear paths’ and ‘foiled’ -oh! and ‘circling.’
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Feel free to reconsider.
The first nonet is about the man whose room it is, he’s not there right now, he’s lost exploring.
She’s looking aRound, surRounded by curves and circular shapes.
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Yes. It’s a clever theme.
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Well done on this excellent poem, Miss D.
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Thank you Robbie. It’s such an intriguing picture, I had to try.
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Loved this, Di. Your words flow effortlessly and I love the mystical tone. Beautiful take on the prompt.
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Thank you. I am glad if it works.
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An enchanting tale that could expanded. So many unanswered quests and questions.
Still ‘she’ knows…
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Thanks Jules.
She always has known. That line came to me and started out to be the first line but this is what finally worked out onto the page.
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This poem gave me more ideas to explore! Nice interpretation D.
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Thank you. Enjoy your explorations.
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D. This is stunning. I like how you wrote from the man’s perspective: “he’s far afield unaware that he’s lost her…” The imagery of roundness is found throughout the painting. It kind of reminds me of karma, which knits these double nonets into the two facets of their worlds. You could write flash fiction to these paintings too!! What stories we could tell. ❤
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I’ve been writing more poetry lately, casting about I suppose over the semester break, and have kind of liked the change up from flash. I am glad not to get too into their story. But I did feel this was a man’s room, but also noted all the geometry. The way the first section ended worked out pretty cool, he’s lost. Or, he’s lost her, so no punctuation in this one so it can go different ways. Anyway, thank you for your kind words and great challenges.
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It’s always a pleasure to read your poetry D. I’m convinced that I use different sides of my brain when writing poetry vs. flash. I know that’s not true, but it feels like it. LOL! These breaks are so good for us. It gets our creative juices flowing. ❤
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Thank you, Ms. Chesebro. It’s always a little weird putting poetry out there. Gulp.
With the word limit or sentence limit of my favorite flash prompts it is similar to syllabic poetry, in that the math side of the brain is in it and helping to keep it all organized and focused. I think constraints are the best thing for writing, mine anyway. D’verse has their “quadrille” where the only rule is 44 words, and that has been a productive prompt/restraint for me. But yeah, counting syllables amongst the lines, that’s a good challenge. Here’s to more where less is more!
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I know what you mean about putting yourself out there. All we can do is share our passion for writing flash and poetry the best way we can. I really should work on poetry for the D’Verse quadrille, myself. Right now, I’m pulled in ten different ways. I have to center and find my way forward. LOL! You know the feeling. ❤
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Yep. I’m not very consistent with any of the prompts, as you know. Well, maybe one…
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LOL! Yes… I’ll be more consistent with that one myself! ❤
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Exactly. The lines go nowhere without the circles. (K)
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Beautiful Nonet, I love that you add the sun and the moon to it!
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Well, he’s got his book and his skull and his doodads out but she knows what ticks.
Thank you for coming by!
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Pingback: #TankaTuesday #Poetry Stars No. 257 | #EkphrasticPrompt – Word Craft: Prose & Poetry
Lovely, D! 💕🙂
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Thank you.
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This is beautiful, D.You’ve created a story, added emotion, and left readers wanting more. Amazing skill. 💗
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Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed this.
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I so love a nonet, and this is beautiful 💖
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Thank you. It was a good challenge with such a great picture.
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I like the double entendre of “the roundness she knows.”
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I like that nothing gets by you!
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