Cultivars – TankaTuesday; Thursday Doors Writing Challenge

Posted bySuzette BenjaminPosted inPoetryTags:, ,
Image credit: © Brenda Cox

sadness cultivars

despair’s curtains shutters drawn

the garden weeps green

*

but in the morning

hope shapes garlands in the heart

smiles grow outdoor pots

For:

Dan’s Annual Thursday Doors Writing Challenge (#TDWC)

Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday where this week’s host Robbie Cheadle invites us to write a series-senryu in which we “consider two opposing human experiences in the series, alternating between them.“

Published by Suzette Benjamin

Positive thinker, inspirational, writer, faith

55 thoughts on “Cultivars – TankaTuesday; Thursday Doors Writing Challenge”

  6. I love this poem, Suzette. You put an upbeat face on a sad image. It’s wonderful to look at something and find a reason to smile or be optimistic. Very well done!

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  8. What a deeply stirring pair of senryu. You’ve captured the aching weight of overgrowth—both in the garden and in the soul—with such poignant simplicity. “Despair’s curtains shutters drawn / the garden weeps green” speaks to the silent collapse of what was once tended, and now feels forgotten. And yet, you let light in so gently—”hope shapes garlands in the heart”—offering not a denial of sadness, but the possibility of tending again, of snipping away fear and letting joy take root once more.

    This alternating lens of frailty and fortitude feels like a soft walk through human experience—despair in overgrowth, and renewal in morning light.

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    1. Your beautiful insights speak volumes….that tending again to the heart’s songs, though sorrow was once its shuttered melody.
      I like very much all your insights they are that “alternating lens” of what it means to be human (I feel) wrestling with the vicissisitudes of life making the most of that table set before us with gratitude and fortitude.

      Thank you so much for your generous and heartwarming excursion into these two poems.

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      1. Yes, thank you, Poet. Your words evoke such honesty and purity—making it feel both truthful and uplifting to speak of life’s joys and its vicissitudes.
        You so beautifully remind us, with brilliant imagery, to tend gently to each delicate string of the heart.

        You are most welcome, dear Poet. Reflecting on your work nourishes both heart and soul, and offers deep meditation and strength in exercising the mind.

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  9. A fantabulous poem, Suzette! From gloom to bloom- that’s what we should look for. Thank you for this inspirational message!

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  16. A gentle take on stark contrast in human emotion, all in one image. “the garden weeps green” is word paint. You bring words out of images beautifully!

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