Frigid winter day
A blizzard freezes my soul
Distant stares are harsh
An icy word from your mouth
Causes the tempest to rage
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Written for Colleen’s Poetry challenge. Each week she gives us two keywords, only we must use synonyms only, not the words themselves. This week the key words were “Cold” and “Storm” This week I decided to try a tanka.
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In ways these words were appropriate this week as we just had our first major storm of the season followed by our coldest day so far. I know, the first storm in late January in New Hampshire? Unheard of! But it has been a frigid winter! And don’t worry too much about my storm damaged heart – this is pure fiction :) Photo from a short hike on Saturday, before the storm.
Hi Trent! Each line of your tanka has an underlying meaning––I love that! We writers are like actors using written words instead of actions. Much of our poetry are just an “act”, a show we put on and not necessarily real. :)
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Thanks, Vashti! I agree. They say “write what you know”, but I say, “what fun is that?” I like doing that acting :)
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Me too!
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Pingback: Colleen’s 2019 #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge Recap No. 120, “Storm & Cold,” #SynonymsOnly – Colleen Chesebro ~ The Faery Whisperer
LOL! I like the storm damaged heart being pure fiction! That’s great emotion. Well done.
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Thanks :) As I said to Diana, many of my “love poems” are really “love poems to no one” ;)
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I know. I can write the saddest love poetry. Ron and I’ve been happily married for 33 years! I have no idea where it come from. 😂
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I say if you’ve experienced the emotion, you know it and can use it later :)
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Exactly. Those feelings help our writing in so many ways. I often channel emotions from the past and twist them to fit other writing needs. I think having the ability to do that makes us excellent storytellers/poets. <3
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Could be part of the definition… :)
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wonderful. But oh so cold brrrrr
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Yes, very much brrrr… I know you got some of the cold down there, even if it was all rain for you.
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Well done, Trent. It’s been a strange winter, hasn’t it? I’m glad this was just fiction. :-)
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Thanks, Diana. Yes, a very strange winter – I like winter but I’ll be glad when it is over. I don’t often admit it, but most of my “love poems” are “love poems to no one” ;) Obviously, once we’ve loved or have had a broken heart, we can always write about it.
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Oh, I know. Our imaginations take off from there.
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Your words freeze my soul 💜
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A chilling effect? Thanks! :)
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It true 💜💜
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Out of 23 words, 6 strike me … that’s a darn good percentage. Well done, Trent. How much new snow did the storm deliver?
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Thanks, Frank. Actually, we only got about 6″ or 8″, but then it rained all day Sunday. The high on Sunday was 18F, so all of that rain was pure ice. I’d rather have the 24″ of snow they were predicting!
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Thanks … big difference between 6-8 and 24!
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Yes, also a big difference between the light powder we were promised and all of that pure ice after 15 hours of rain at 15 degrees F!
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Beautiful portrayal. Keep warm up there!
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Thanks! We are going to have a slight respite in the cold weather, which will be nice, but it is supposed to get cold again.
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I like this! Wow, that was quick. I am still staring at a blank page!
I can especially relate to:
An icy word from your mouth
Causes the tempest to rage
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Thanks! I usually try to do the challenges, whether fiction or poetry, as fast as I can. I know, silly, but I think it helps keep my writing sharp. When I read the word “cold”, my first thought was emotionally cold, so, combined with “storm”, these lines had to be written :)
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I actually love the first storm of the year… now that I live in the city and the power doesn’t go out for days. Every storm really makes you want to sit down and write a poem though. There is something desperate about a landscape of snow.
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I do like the snow, which shouldn’t be a surprise since I chose to live in New Hampshire, but this storm was ugly – After snowing all night, it rained, and yet it was only 15 F/-10 C out. Having that thick blanket of snow helped, but the ice is still terrible. I agree, those bad storms makes us want to either curl up with a warm book or with a pen and paper and write our own.
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I did have a really bad storm once – it snowed my family in and was so cold that I couldn’t even turn the pages of a book! It was so frustrating. Some storms are just scary. :)
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