This is week two of The Autumn Equinox (September 22 – October 7) Shubun 秋分 for Colleen Chesebro’s new #TankaTuesday challenge based on the 24 Japanese seasons.
My kigo (season) word is Homecoming as in high school and college Homecoming events. This is one I have made up, but for me it represents mid-Autumn, the Autumn Equinox. I have a second kigo for a second poem. I used bonfire because although we had them both summer and fall, the fall ones were the ones that seemed magical, almost mystical.
I wanted to choose a syllabic form that is new to me, and I was intrigued by one that Colleen shared last time.
From the 24 Forms/kouta:
The kouta is a popular Japanese verse form of the Muromachi Period, 14th thru 16th century. They resurrected the lyrical song as a geisha song in the late 1800s and it’s still popular today. Koutas were originally meant to be sung out loud, like many other old forms of poetry. Techniques like assonance and consonance would fit right in with the form, but they aren’t required.
The kouta has several variations, though always short in only 4 lines a 5th line is sometimes is added. Themes reflect ordinary life and often use colloquialisms and onomatopoeia. The most popular are love songs.
We write kouta in four lines but sometimes five, that tends to celebrate the average person’s everyday life in song.
Colleen Chesebro
The kouta lines are always an odd number of syllables, usually 5 or 7 mixed, such as 7-5-7-5- or 7-7-7-5.
(untitled)
My son in a new black suit, (7)
daughter in semi-formal, (7)
their dates the first future glimpse. (7)
All are shiny smiles. (5)
Bring on Homecoming! (5)
(untitled)
One year we had a bonfire (7)
post our winning game. (5)
The smell of woodsmoke, night breeze, (7)
the high point before (5)
the descent toward winter. (7)
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I looked up toward to see if it is one or two syllables. Two!
Terrific, Luanne
Thank you, John!
I remember homecomings!
Fun times! I hope your memories are good ones.
I particularly like the bonfire one!
Thank you :)! Does that sound like fun pretty soon?
I see you’re having company! Have fun!
So far so good in the fun department!
Wonderful news!
😀 We visited the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Flavor Graveyard, which was a real hoot!
Haha. Retired flavors?
Yep! Economic Crunch, for example.
Hahaha.
This brings to mind how in autumn we burned our leaves at the curb in the street when I was a child. Magical!–but you couldn’t do that now.
Yes!!! When my dad had his leaf piles ready for burning I jumped in them and pretended to be Joan of Arc!
I love the bonfire, Luanne! I have to learn about how people take care of the falling leaves here.
Thank you, Miriam! Do people have to compost them? Or take to a landfill? I have no idea!
Just like everywhere else, homeowners take care of them within their properties. I think the street cleaning comes over a month. I don’t know if it’s enough to clean all the fallen leaves.
Good luck, Miriam. I wish we had fallen leaves!
I should post the latest photo of our street!!
You should! Did you?
I’ll find a chance to do it.
So evocative, Luanne. I particularly like the bonfire one. My kids always went to the homecoming dances, but I never went to any games or bonfires that I remember.
Thank you, Merril. I have a sort of Home coming story in my memoir lol. Making floats was another activity.
I never did anything like that. My kids might have.🙂
What did you do with your free time?
Not build floats. 🙂
Lol. Everything I did it was because someone else dragged me.
I think I could have used someone dragging me. 🙂
LOL! I get it, I really do!
We should actually talk sometime! I can’t really write it all here. 🙂
<3
Luanne, very well thought-out and executed kouta poems. You bring the scenes to life in them.
Thank you so much!!!! It was really fun to think up the kigo words.
You’re very welcome.
Hi Luanne, lovely poetic memories.
Robbie, thank you so much!!!
🌺
This is wonderful! Yes, homecoming is always an autumn affair in America. What a great kigo word. I love both of your poems and agree about the bonfire. In autumn, a bonfire is mystical, as if connecting us to the other realms. Love it, Luanne! 🧡
Ah thank you, Colleen! So glad you approve!!!!
Lovely, Luanne. I had forgotten about Homecoming. How perfect! ❤️
Thank you! Homecoming is so huge in the U.S. Do you have something similar or not?
This is lovely a beautiful peak into your Autumn 💜💜