Tanka Challenge

"Did you write today?"
Riising moon asks setting sun
O'er the glinting bay.
"Nearly forgot!" she blushes,
Hurrying homeward to write.

Tanka challenge 2009

This challenge originally premiered last year.

Can you think of anything more antithetical to the concept of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days than the discipline of coming up with one 31-syllable poetic gem a day?

Here's the concept - because I suspect some of my readers will want to jump on the old ox cart too: 
Write one tanka (waka)* a day.
*Resources on tanka: 
http://www.ahapoetry.com/TANKA.HTM
http://www.americantanka.com/
http://www.wodefordhall.com/heianpoetryjam.htm

Since I was out of town this weekend and posted this very late on November 1, one may opt to do a double entry to bring your total to thirty for the month, or you may skip November 1. This is the only date you get to double dip or skip on. The spirit of this poetic form being the impermanence of this dewdrop life, no other make-ups are permitted. If you miss a day, you miss a day and as in real life, you never get it back.   (You're on the honor system here....)

No limits on subject matter other than any you chose to impose upon yourself. Hopefully, some moment in your day will inspire you to write about it.

If you write more than one tanka a day, fine. However, you may not carry over tanka to other days except for the November 1 grace tanka.  You have to write a poem on each day.

(If you are inspired to "answer" someone else's poem, great. Personally, if I do so, I am not going to count it toward my daily assignment. The idea is to come up with something myself each day. What you do is up to you.)

Adherence to the 5-7-5-7-7 line/syllable count is required, otherwise it's not a tanka.

It's poetry, not stereo instructions. It should say something and it should make sense.

No rewrites.

Don't post it in MY journal. Post it in YOUR journal. I had someone start sticking his poems in my journal last year and he had the nerve to be all hurt and upset because I kept asking him nicely and politely not to do so and deleting them as they did not count as responses to things I was writing.  If you really truly have to post them somewhere besides your own journal, I've created
http://community.livejournal.com/tankachallenge/profile

The good and the not so good of Cynagua Coronet.

The good: 
The drive to Woodland was less awful than expected, possibly because a significant percentage of the people who would normally have been heading east to Reno or Tahoe were still trying to find their way out of San Francisco due to the Bay Bridge closure.

The not so good: 
Got over to Mari's vigil lateish so Gwenhwyfaer and I got our names on the visitation list late. This meant doing the polite avoidance dance several times during the wait with someone with whom I get along just peachy with as long as we pretend the other is invisible. There was also a considerable amount of silent teeth gnashing through the bardic. I don't care if I ever raise my voice in front of an audience again, quite honestly, and all it did was irritate the everloving shit out of me just to have to sit through it. I managed to get in on a vastly more entertaining conversation with Ximon and Wilhelm and several other people in which we were asked to pick three historical figures we would like to spend time with. (I envisioned a dinner party with John Adams, Sei Shonagon and Oscar Wilde.)

The good: 
Finally got a few moments to see Mari and congratulate her. She asked all her visitors to hold the chain she was going to receive as we spoke. I told her that what I was about to say had become something of a mantra over the past two years, then glanced upward and said, "As usual, you're missing the good stuff." Gaius would have been terribly pleased to know of her elevation. She and Gemini were among the first people I met when I moved out here, they were the Prince and Princess of Cynagua who presented me with my Rose Leaf and the accolade is well and truly earned.

The not so good: 
At least I got to hear her knighting. I got to watch the bobbing of the backs of several jack-in-the-box photographer heads and stare into the lenses of a battery of cameras on the opposite side of the aisle. (What do you want to bet the vast majority of photos that get posted publicly suck?)

The good :
Several people expressed interest in sampling sake.

The not so good: I had to move the tasting to Gwenhwyfaer's sunshade because she didn't want me to be left alone with Creepy Loser Guy. CLG appears to be harmless and I only ever run into him at events in that part of the kingdom. In the past he has bent my ear about all sorts of grandiose plans he had for building instruments and researching this and that just as soon as he no longer has to live out of his car.  I saw him in the morning, he said he was looking forward to coming by later for the sake tasting. I was sitting up front in the sunshade with G and got up to get a drink when I glanced toward the back of the camp and noticed that CLG had staked out a fairground bench beside my tent. In the middle of the afternoon. He sat there for about a good 40 minutes before he finally gave up. He came by TWICE while we were still all eating dinner and had to be told to come back later.  I grabbed the bottles and cups and set up on a bench by the firepit and served from there, with G and Edward and Johann around me, and a couple of the young people from the autocrat staff. CLG made an idiot of himself by calling it sahkee and acting like he knew more than he did. He finally went away when he realized he'd tasted everything I had. Including the girly sparkling stuff.

The good: Rolf and Aurora (more Gaius friends) are the new Lord and Lady of the Swan.

The good: the food in camp. Saturday breakfast was pancakes with homemade plum sauce and bacon, dinner was chicken and veggies in the dutch oven with rice and Edward's yummy chard soup. Sunday breakfast was dutch oven blueberry muffins, bacon and sausage (and we were nibbling on the leftovers most of the morning). I also bought  two cups of chai from the Page School fundraiser. It was chai from a mix, but it was pretty good and Louise said she'd got it at Smart and Final. I should probably NOT buy a can, it's too tempting.....

The good: none of the trick or treaters fell into our firepit.

The good: Stopped by Gilbert's Pelican party, made some more of the Jinyu go away, met some folks I'd seen around but never traded names with.

The good: I'd been helping Owen put up and take down the front wall of the heraldic consulting pavilion - he needs to be careful of lifting just now. This morning I asked him to take a look at the O&A and see how common fans are as charges and discussed some ideas I had for a possible device with him. I need to double check the online version in case there's anything more recent, but it looks like there was only one device using three fans and I can easily come up with enough points of difference in a three-fan design that it should have a good shot at passing. I now have no excuse not to register my Japanese name.

The good: I spotted a teenager taking cell phone pictures of my tent as I was packing down. I said he should've seen it BEFORE I'd started tearing down, we get talking and he wants to do Japanese. I gave him my card, told him to shoot me an email and remind me who he is and I'd be happy to point him at resources.

The good: Had time after teardown to detour to the Vacaville outlets and pick up a new pair of chinos at the Gap, 60% off.