Imayo, #1

Reading Time: 5 mins and under

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Under the April full moon - no one knows what to 
do with themselves, exactly - only, perhaps, the 
marsh marigolds flowering - under the sunshine, 
but through a shower of hail - such resilience! 

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The above is my response to Tanka Tuesday‘s poetry challenge: 24 Seasons. Using the twenty-four seasons of Japanese poetry – including kigo – we’re free to write a syllabic poem of our choice.

Challenge #31 is to engage with Kokuu: Grain Rain (19th April – 4th May) by composing a poem of our choice, using at least one kigo word or phrase. I chose the imayo form, using two kigo phrases: April full moon (‘In the Sky’) and marsh marigolds flowering (an ‘In the Ground and Water’ spring plant native to my area).

Rules of Imayo*

• Four 12-syllable lines divided into 7-5.
• Requires some sort of pause – usually punctuation, or kireji (cutting word) – to divide the 7 and 5.
• Written as if it’s one long flowing sentence.
• Unrhymed and (possibly) untitled, with no metre or end-of-line pause.

Find a list of responses here soon, at the beginning of Challenge #32 🙂

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*Colleen M. Chesebro, ’24 Forms’, Tanka Tuesday < https://tankatuesday.com/24-forms/ > [last accessed: 28/4/2024].

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Image by Tanka Tuesday