Harvest Moon Magic, #Tanka

Posted on by Colleen M. Chesebro

I’m combining challenges this week because there never seems to be enough time to get everything done. How many of you feel the same way?

Anyway, Frank J. Tassone’s Haikai challenge asks us to use the Harvest Moon (meigetsu) in the haikai poem of our choice (haiku, senryu, haibun, tanka, haiga, renga. My challenge asks us to embrace the tanka!

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

Harvest Moon Magic

the harvest moon soars
bright against the sable night—
I reap what I sow
the warmth of hearth and home calls
get ready for winter's chill

©2020 Colleen M. Chesebro

My pivot is, “I reap what I sow.” As I explained in my challenge post, our pivot should relate to the first two lines of our tanka, and to the last two lines of our tanka. 

the harvest moon soars
bright against the sable night—
I reap what I sow

The harvest season is a time to reap what you have sown. All the seeds you planted in the spring, both physically and metaphorically, are ready to bear fruit. Now, we can collect the bounty we deserve.

I reap what I sow
the warmth of hearth and home calls
get ready for winter's chill

The pivot works with the last two lines, as well. This portion of the poem suggests we plan for the harsh winter season to come. Happy Autumn!

71 thoughts on “Harvest Moon Magic, #Tanka”

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  10. Beautiful tanka, Colleen. The pivot is superb and thank you for explaining how it should work. I agree about not having enough time and I combine challenges whenever I can. I feel being a busy blogger is better than being an idle blogger. ❤️

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