Monthly Archives: November 2023

Light Snow, Week 2: #TankaTuesday

This is the 2nd week of the Light Snow season for Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday challenge based on the 24 Japanese seasons.

Colleen gave us our kigo phrases for this week, as well as the poetic form. We were to write three dodoitsu, a form of Japanese poetry, following a 7-7-7-5 syllable count pattern.

  • #1: “early winter dusk”
  • #2: “chilly north winds blow”
  • #3: “warmth around the hearth”

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afternoons lose light sooner

coyotes prowl for dinner

gloom collects in my kitchen

early winter dusk

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chilly north winds do not blow

we balance in luxury

no longer hot, but not cool

air gentle to touch

###

though today’s weather is fair

tomorrow will be chilly

and then we’ll be grateful for

warmth around the hearth

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Care December will be starting day after tomorrow at Everything Art. Every year, Kasia who runs EA offers this free self-care and intuitive art “course.” Every day we get a video with art prompt and self-care tip as well as a brief nature experience. The only thing she asks is that we donate what we can to Action Against Hunger.

In preparation for the Care December experience, I made myself a little junk journal with a pretty cover. For the journal, I used a New York Life brochure. The staples didn’t hold so I bound it with a shoe lace. The cover is denim from an old pair of jeans, plaid fabric from a dress Grandma made for me when I was twelve, and an applique I had for my daughter’s wedding junk journal that I did not use. I wish the colors came out truer in the photo, but it’s this early winter daylight, I guess. The applique and lace are the same hunter green. The greens in the plaid are rich. And the denim is a true dark denim blue. So this image is a dud, clearly.

Each page is prepped for usage with gesso or collage.

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Light Snow, Week 1: #TankaTuesday

This is the 1st week of the Light Snow (November 22 – December 6) Shosetsu 小雪 Northern Hemisphere & Fine Weather: Shoman 小満 Southern Hemisphere season for Colleen Chesebro’s #TankaTuesday challenge based on the 24 Japanese seasons.

For a kigo word I chose turkey because even though we have spectacular summery weather right now, it is Thanksgiving week–even in Arizona! I decided to try a new to me form, tanka prose. I hope I did it right.

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Grateful for Our Blessings

Once again our family will meet for Thanksgiving amidst the beautiful Phoenix weather. How grateful I am that we can be together. There will be ten plus one this time. The “plus one” will be brought by DIL and son . . . and is due in two months (or so).

under bluest skies

with bare arms and cheeks sunkissed

we come together

kids bring turkey and gravy

we offer fixins with love

gray scale photo of a pregnant woman
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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Yay for Wonderful Reviews and #TankaTuesday

Our Wolves, my Red Riding Hood poetry chapbook, was reviewed by fantasy and science fiction writer D. (Diana) Wallace Peach for her October Book Reviews: https://mythsofthemirror.com/2023/10/31/october-book-reviews-2/. I love her review. She says,  “these are thoughtful and provocative poems that I found stirring, raw, and deeply insightful. They’re also beautifully written with gorgeous but accessible language, providing glimmers into the lives and stories of girls everywhere.”

Diana posted the review on Amazon where it is keeping company with another new and fabulous review by writer Wilma Kahn: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R31IC9DU4DZING/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0BTKNP31D. The ending of her review is so cool: “Love the poetry. Embrace the shock.”

It feels so rewarding to have readers take the time to write reviews for my books. Makes me happy.

On the same subject of poetry, I read a hilarious article in The Onion, a master of satire. It’s the funniEST if you know that most poets make nothing from their books as the costs of promotion in both money and time outweigh the royalties. https://www.theonion.com/sellout-poet-made-over-150-in-2023-alone-1851012377

For #TankaTuesday, Colleen Chesebro challenged poets to write three tankas using specific kigo as either first lines or pivot lines.
#1: “the first month with sleet”
#2: “late winter garden”
#3: “blanket by the fire”

Here are mine. It took a little weirdness since we still have gorgeous weather in Arizona.

the first month with sleet

and a howling, freezing wind

first weeks of snowfalls

that melt even as they touch

the earth not yet full-frozen

*

outside I linger

among the curling petals

late winter garden

a place for thoughts of the past

a place for wishes to come

*

in Arizona

we look ahead to winter

blanket by the fire

both cuddling with the kitties

will it come or will fall stay

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I also wrote a tanka about the contrast of our Arizona weather and my family’s Michigan weather.

[Beginning of Winter in Arizona versus Michigan]

A fall breeze upset

my skirt on my daily walk.

Lone sign of winter.

My brother in Michigan

raked fallen leaves for hours.

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My kigo is fallen leaves and fall breeze (instead of autumn wind).

Japanese woodcut print by Kamisaka Sekka
Japanese woodcut print by Kamisaka Sekka by New York Public Library is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0

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New Poem at JMWW

Jen Michalski, Managing and Founding Editor of JMWW Journal, has published my poem, “Edna Pontellier Needed a Bagpiper.” Edna Pontellier is the protagonist of the novel The Awakening. I don’t think you need to have read the book to understand the poem or Edna’s “fascination” with the water.

If you’re so inclined, comments may be left on the site.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve experienced a bagpiper on the shore, as well as many other wonderful places. I used to think I was a reincarnated Scottish person because of my love of the pipes. But it might have started with ballet classes. My ballet teacher also taught Scottish Highland dancing (which I wanted to take SO BADLY but my mother said no), so I was used to hearing the pipes at the studio and at performances.

scottish piper playing bagpipes
Photo by Lewis Ashton on Pexels.com

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The Beginning of Winter #TankaTuesday

You really have to be paying attention to see the beginning of winter in Phoenix. It is a little cooler, but it is still as warm as a Michigan summer. The sky is still bright blue. Our flowers are brilliant, and the sun shining through the leaves of the bushes and trees is a painting.

Still, according to #TankaTuesday, this is the first week of The Beginning of Winter (November 7 – 21) Ritto 立冬. I thought I would try a new-to-me form, the gogyohka. This form is not truly syllabic, but Colleen Chesebro’s research has shown it to be more about breaths. It is a five-line poem, like a tanka. A gogyohka does not need a kigo word, but I am playing along with the seasonal prompts, so I am including “long night” as a kigo.

Some super cool news this week. Both my full-length collection Rooted and Winged and my chapbook Our Wolves are finalists for the American Book Fest 2023 awards! https://americanbookfest.com/2023bbapressrelease.html

I’m so pleased with how my books have done with the awards, but they could both use more reviews on Amazon (and Goodreads, too, but especially Amazon). It only takes one or two sentences to help the algorithm, so if you have read the books and liked them, please consider taking the time to drop Amazon a line or two.

It’s been over a week that I have been walking every day. I am so happy that I have been able to sustain this routine, and that my health has permitted. It’s a beautiful walk near me, and so far it’s been almost eventless. I am a little dismayed, though, how few birds I am finding this year. Has anyone else noticed this where you live or is it just here?

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Lothlorien Poetry Journal: Five Poems

Strider Marcus Jones, Editor of Lothlorien Poetry Journal, has published five of my poems. Four are brand new, including one about my high school reunion in August, and one is from my first book Doll God. Two of the new poems are about living in Arizona.

I hope you enjoy this variety!

https://lothlorienpoetryjournal.blogspot.com/2023/11/five-poems-by-luanne-castle.html?spref=fb&fbclid=IwAR3bPdw-HVvbTrIZAp6GpD0ri75v_C5C5cte6qDfQ-8T10AG09OhIyYfrmU

two mallard ducks on water
Photo by TheOther Kev on Pexels.com

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What Happened in My Mother’s Retirement Community When I Visited?

I’m very grateful to Mark Danowsky, Editor of One Art, who has published a poem I wrote when I visited my mother in August. I traveled with my bad knees and my husband to see Mom and attend our high school reunion. We stayed in a guest room in the retirement community where Mom lives. And this is what happened the morning we were leaving. I hope you enjoy this narrative poem. It all happened just like this . . . .

Long corridor, Britannia Royal Naval College
Long corridor, Britannia Royal Naval College by David Hawgood is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.0

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