Colleen’s 2020 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 187 #PhotoPrompt
This week Colleen’s #Tanka Tuesday invites us to use all our senses to write about this fishing trap lying abandoned in this lonely inlet.
#Haibun
Nets placed by the hundreds in the harbors. Providing delicious meals for hundreds of people daily. Somehow this single net washed ashore unattended between the lonely crags. Once full of dancing shellfish, crabs or lobsters, now even the birds won’t approach the stench of rotting flesh. Gut wrenching, like watching a young person choose drugs over life.
Ruined
Imprisoned
Wasted
“How did this happen?” the angry father complains to his son. “There ought to be a law against this kind of waste. Don’t the fish companies clean up after themselves? Don’t the harbor patrols get rid of these smelly traps? This is an outrage!”
The son approaches the net, drags it to the water, and empties the rotting lobster inside into the ocean and then calls the local fish company to let them know the location of their missing net.
Action
Concern for
Others
The son placed his arm across his aging father’s shoulders and led him away.
“Remember, Pops? You didn’t complain, rage, or ask me how or why I got hooked on drugs. You stepped in, loved me, and got the help I needed. I didn’t enjoy prison, but I got clean.”
The father relaxed into his son’s embrace as they continued walking wordlessly along the beach.
HAIBUN IN ENGLISH: The rules for constructing a Haibun are simple.
- Begin your haibun with a title. The title should hint at something barely noticeable in the beginning which comes together by the ending.
- Your haibun prose can be written in present or past tense including, first person (I), third person (he/she), or first-person plural (we).
- Subject matter: autobiographical prose, travel journal, a slice of life, memory, dream, character sketch, place, event, or object. Focus on one or two elements.
- Keep your prose simple, all excessive words should be pared down or deleted. Nothing should be overstated.
- The length can be brief with one or two sentences with a haiku, or longer prose with a haiku sandwiched between, to longer memoir works including many haiku.
- There are different Haibun styles: Idyll: (One prose paragraph and one haiku) haiku/prose, or prose/haiku; Verse Envelope: haiku/prose/haiku; Prose Envelope: prose/haiku/prose, including alternating prose and verse elements.
- Your prose tells the story and gives the information which helps to define the theme. It creates a mood through tone, paving the way for the haiku.
- The haiku should act as a comparison—different yet somehow connected to the prose, as it moves the story forward by taking the narrative in another direction.
- The haiku should not attempt to repeat, quote, or explain the prose. Instead, the haiku resolves the conflict in an unexpected way. Sometimes, the haiku questions the resolution of the prose. While the prose is the narrative, the haiku is the revelation or the reaction.
Take a chance and try something new. Visit Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday. While you are there, check out the other entries for enjoyment, inspiration and to encourage the writers.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
18 responses to “Active Problem Solving #Haibun”
[…] Active Problem Solving #Haibun Tanka Tuesday […]
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Unconditional love is rare. A valuable gift.
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Yes, it is.
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Hi Marsha this is really great , a double take Haibun with feeling 💜
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Thanks, Willowdot! I really like the Haibun. The combination of prose is totally new to me, and I love it. 🙂
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It is a great medium to express ourselves 💜
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Yes, definitely.
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Loved this idea. Something quite similar to my work. Enjoyed reading your story by the way. Thankyou for dropping the hint earlier. Good day ✌🌸
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I had a feeling you would love the haibun. I love the fact that it is prose and poetry together. Today is Colleen’s contest day. Have a beautiful day. Happy writing. 🙂
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Thankyou for giving me a head up. Next week i will be participating in this. Have a blessed day.
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You too. 🙂
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Well done, Marsha! I’m loving all the forms you are trying. ❤
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Thanks, Colleen. It’s a good kind of challenge to attempt during challenging times!
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Very powerful Marsha..x
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Thank you, Sally! xx
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You are rocking this poetry girl! ❤
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Thanks for the compliment. A new challenge! 🙂
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❤
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