Here is Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge #304. We are to create a poem using the picture below.
I came up with a haibun. It is a prose paragraph joined with a haiku or, in my case, a senryu.
ETERNITY’S STEP
I sat on the bench in the new year’s chill, watching the ocean waves crash against the barren shoreline. This is where I used to meet Charity… before. The day it happened, I was late because of my engagement party. Although I liked the woman I was to marry, it was not with the same passion and depth I had for my sweet Charity. It had to be this way since our families wouldn’t let us be together. I accepted that we would have to steal our precious moments. Charity accepted nothing and refused to marry out of duty like I was about to do. My love was much braver than me that day. We had talked about doing this, but I was afraid. So, she left without me, stepping into the raging waters and letting this reality slip away. Every day, I went to our place, where she stood silently by the shoreline—waiting.
ghostly love beckons…
I enter her stormy sea
eternity ours
Haunting and beautiful, Denise!
Thanks, Priscilla! Hope it makes the right call.
Eternal love. I hope he doesn’t leave her waiting!
I have a feeling her patience will pay off.
Love your haiku. This is so interesting reading all the different poems built from this image. I am really enjoying these (thank you Denise and Colleen).
Thank you, Jacqui 🙂 i enjoy seeing all the different takes too. So glad Colleen does this!
A love that dwells in immortality. Beautiful.
Thank you, I like to believe he does.
Beautiful prose and a poignant senryu that “pulls it all together”. I’m becoming truly amazed at how so many of us have interpreted and perceived this painting that Colleen has chosen. 👏👏👏
Thank you, I love the haibun form. It is amazing how each of us interprets that painting, I agree.
Wow, Denise… that is such a dark and beautiful piece of fiction…
<3
David
Thank you, David. That painting inspired a story.
That’s hauntingly done, Denise. I didn’t expect it to take that slant at all. I love how the haiku perfectly echoes the story.
Thank you, Mae 🙂 I didn’t expect it either but it came out.
Well done. I love your take on the picture.
Thank you, Darlene. I love how the picture speaks to is all differently.
Excellent, Denise. Great story and poem.
Thank you, John 🙂 That’s why I love doing haibuns, I can tell a story.
Yup.
Oooh, I love how the prose and poetry work together so perfectly, Denise. This isn’t a form I’m familiar with, but I can’t imagine it being done any better. Great job!! 😊❤️😊
Thank you, Marcia 🙂 It is a fun form to work with and combine. I’ve done a few in the past and always been happy putting it together.
A wonderful story and poem for the prompt. Bravo, Denise! Hugs 💕🙂
Thank you, Harmony! Haibuns are fun to work with.
Hugs back!
Wow! Denise, your haibun is pulling at the strings of my heart. You nailed it with a perfect Senryu. Lovely!
Thank you, Balroop 🙂 It was a great image to work from.
Wow… this haibun reads like a romance novel. What fun. The senryu really finishes the story off. It’s haunting! 💜
Thanks, Colleen. That’s why I love the haibun form so much!
I like haibun for the same reason. This week, I condensed a romance into a chöka. It was a lot of fun. 😀
Oh wow! I didn’t see that coming. Amazing, Denise!
Thank you, Jan 🙂 It is fun work with.
How romantically depressing! 😛 I loved it, Denise! Your spin is great!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Lol… thanks, Yvette! It’s a great image to work from.
Haunting….and well done!
Thank you, Mark!
A tragic story in a poem, Denise. The senyru is the perfect climatic ending. That last line clinches it all. Beautifully done.
Thanks, Diana 🙂 I like the challenge of doing it in few words.
I think any story can be synthesized down into a poem. It a fun exercise to drill down to the core theme or emotion.
It is a fun and useful exercise for writers, I agree.
HI Denise, this is excellent.
Thank you, Robbie 🙂
I love the story, it’s a sad one, but you wrote it beautifully.
Thank you, Elizabeth. It was a great image to work from!
Captivating and haunting haibun. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you, Jude. The image had many layers to it.
🙏🏾🌼
Straight out of an old romance… Sad but true. It is a wonder that some of that social elitism still exists.
You draw us in with your words and they are haunting and touching 💜
Oh my, this is hauntingly beautiful, Denise. ❤️
Thank you, Gwen xo