feminine spirit
from brutality ashes~
arise and ascend
beyond cruelty
no much tall mountains
Written: November 04, 2022
This Tanka is written in memory of Masha Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in moral police detention after being suspected of violating the dress code triguering weeks of protest in Iran.
Written: November 04, 2022
A New Hiku Footle Tanka Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
O yes, Ukraine and Russia
almost one nation and country
and close relates
much more that others people and nations
around the world,
originated from one African woman,
had lived 160 thousands years ago.
Yes we are all close relates.
and among them who much closer
then more hates each others - mersilless and fatally -
as Russia and Ukraine.
One of them doing
the best and other the worst
things in vast Eurasia.
Oksana treat to be a just honest divchina, nice girl,
belong to European code and culture
while the Masha, so also very nice girl,
tied and stiffened with oprichnina, the intelligent servises
backing sovereign cleptocrasy
of states of thefts, raptors and vultures
and other post-soviet and post-imperial hurly-burly,s and cleptocrats
prodused by historical hellish mistakes and anachronism.
escaping from justice and condemnation.
So the face of truly Russian
is the face of nascent Ukraine
and success of the last would been
the excellent medicine
for the first,s imperial illness and pain.
We used to lick our postage stamps
To stick them on a letter;
But now the stamps do self-adhere,
Yet does that make life better?
And that’s how Vanya’s rant begins
In Chris Durang’s new play*
Which I feel very privileged
To have watched and loved today.
The character bemoans the fact
That life has changed so much;
Today we need technology
Like weakness needs a crutch.
And though life seems much easier,
It comes at quite a cost.
The things that once connected us
Have somehow all been lost.
The younger generation
Can’t remember stamps we licked;
And the old days being better
They would surely contradict.
*”Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
RUSSIAN CHILDREN’S VERSE CONTEST ( FOR FIVE YEAR OLDS )
Oh, Ivan Ivanovich, your eyes are so blue and beautiful
And your mom is really cool and wonderful
If you want to come to my party Saturday
We can talk for ages and maybe even play
I’m writing this poem for you cos you’re ace
Please come early to my party at my place
By the way you know my friend Mitya -
Well, put him down as a prize winner, won't ya?
And my cousin Artem, well he can't really write,
But a prize would sure make his eyes shine bright.
Thanks, Masha Alexandrovna, I think your eyes are lovely too
I am going to give you a great prize or two
For such a good poem full of words and stuff, with skill
You even had stuff like endings - rhyme, if you will,
And almost every word was spelded correktly
I will be at your party at seven directly.
And sure - I will put Mitya in a high spot near you
And Artem can have a prize up there too
I don't recall seeing their stuff on paper
But that's just a detail of the whole caper.
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.