Seasonal Identities

Of autumn's last days
And fleeing nights I could write
But I will just wait...
For winters in the bayou
Inspire the very same words

I have heard of that change of season, that knowing when winter is peeking around the 'freeze your nose off' corner.  I have even experienced it a time or two while traveling to the northern climes but these were brief moments of idyllic sensual overload.  The bayou has its own idea of seasonal identities and, as such, autumn and winter are interchangeable, playing a narcissistic game of tag and 'my turn, my turn'.  Yes, the scents, tastes, and sounds do inspire the same words but if I listen, really listen, the 'feel' of both speaks to me in their own language.  Sometimes I share those things they have to say... and sometimes I hold them close in quiet companionship.  And it is good....



© mdbadgerow 2008

Set in the tankabun form....

The 'tankabun' as its name implies is a combination of a tanka and short piece of prose similar to that of a haibun, but this is where the similarities end.
The form consists of ONE tanka which appears first. The tanka may be traditional, following the five lined form consisting of  5, 7, 5, 7, 7 syllables, or it can be modern, still consisting of five lines but with varying syllable choices, though most still contain the 31 syllables. The unique quality of a tanka is that it captures a moment in time, a thought, a memory.  The next part of this form is the prose piece which simply expands upon the moment captured in the tanka.  There is no set length nor do the sentences have to be short staccato sentences as the haibun is known for. Also this is not about a journey, as is the haibun, but more of unspoken thoughts about that tanka 'moment'.  This form ONLY contains ONE tanka and ONE prose piece.  It is not meant to be a chain of tankabuns.