So, one of our assignments this year (2020) is to look back with hindsight. Get it?
We decided it would be fun to reflect upon old work, have a conversation with it, even.
So this month I chose the tanka we wrote in February 2018, which were actually inspired by sonnets our friends had written the month before. (One of those gifts that keeps on giving!)
Anyway, the tanka I wrote were about the lungs.
Based on Tricia Stohr Hunt’s sonnet about breathing.
Rather than edit or change them (I actually still quite like them!), I thought I’d add to my collection of organ tanka. So that’s what I’ve got here — three tanka inspired by the heart, the liver, and the kidneys. Enjoy!
The Heart
Oh, Bedazzled Heart,
drama queen of the body!
Beneath her make-up,
she’s just grit and elbow grease –
punching that time clock, thump thump.

The Liver
Lily-livered lobes
hiding behind the rib cage –
still vulnerable,
still within reach of ruin,
poor poisoned apples.

The Kidneys
Curled in on yourselves,
busy little kidney beans
working like cheesecloth
keep clean the blood, keep busy
the body for tomorrow.

Here are the others’ reflections:
Tanita
Sara
Tricia
Laura
Kelly
Andi
Rebecca
And you’ll find poetry galore at Karen Edmisten’s Poetry Friday today.