Overflowing, #Tanka Tuesday, #Arkquain Swirl

My only photo of family dining on the Fourth didn’t turn out so well in the original,
so I tried out a few artsy filters.

we

gather

as a group,

our family.

we are eleven.

though we are missing a few,

we celebrate as we do,

with food, love and fun.

table is full

to the brim,

homemade

love,

filling

our tummies,

filling our hearts.

eleven members

of our now extended clan,

with two dogs joining the span,

adding to the love.

we talk and play,

as one team,

puzzling

and

planning,

uniting

all our talents.

our cup runs over,

and, likewise, our dinner plate

shares with the cup, the same fate,

from work of different hands.

our love and faith

together

will bind

us.

© Susan Joy Clark 2021

Some of the family, playing a game.

This was written for Colleen M. Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday challenge. This week it’s poet’s choice, but Colleen pointed out a list of syllabic poetry forms at Poets’ Collective.

I went to the link at Poets’ Collective and tried an arkquain swirl, a different syllabic poetry form than I have tried before. An arkquain swirl has this syllable count pattern — 1234~5775~4321234~5775~4321234~5775~4321. It also has end rhymes on the seven syllable lines.

I was inspired by my recent July 4th celebration with family, which included a few family members I haven’t seen in quite a while. Our celebration was characterized by lots and lots of food, and playing a game which, just as the poem suggests, had us helping one another rather than opposing one another.

9 thoughts on “Overflowing, #Tanka Tuesday, #Arkquain Swirl

    1. Thank you, Colleen. I keep trying new poetry forms. I wanted a little bit of a longer one this time. I haven’t seen my one nephew in quite a while, so it was really nice to see him and meet his basset hound too.

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