Ohinemutu Carvings and Angel with Rotorua landscape scenes, double exposure, Tanka about power and control by Janet Keen, art photographer and creativity teacher.

This is my first attempt at serial Tanka to tell a poetic and allegorical story with double exposure photographs. 

It's a work in progress so return often because things have a way of changing and evolving like sands through an  hour glass. 
 If  you want to contribute or give me suggestions or even critiques feel free, just email me at jkeen@clear.net.nz





                                                               big woman eater
                                           overlooks a brooding lake
                                           eruption pending 
                                           married couples with troubles
                                          seek help before exploding
                                                                

                                                               
                                                                 angel anchored down 
                                          fingers protest fruitlessly 
                                          clutching at blue air
                                         before you finally choose
                                        take note of red flags and run
                                                                
                                                                
                                                               
                                                         

                                                             fighting  for control
                                       first she wins and then he does
                                       see-saw of  struggle
                                      if  it's like this at the start 
                                      marrying it will make it worse
                                     
                                                               
                                                              
                                                              

                                                                             you've escaped like a 
                                                   bubble of  blue victory
                                                 spread your wings and fly
                                                  remember stay free next time
                                                  keep your power close with love
                                                                     

                                                                           she's flown far  away
                                                baffled he is left alone
                                                     raging with dismay
                                         being in love is not enough
                                       to convince the best to stay
                                                                          

                                                                              
                                                               

wafting over trees

breathing in brisk piney breeze

 angel  refreshes

she'd stopped walking when with him

 small things delight her once more

                                                           watch he's stalking her
                                       he can't let go of her scent
                                       wants what he can't have
                                      he yearns for the forbidden
                                     more than when he was allowed 
                                                       

                                                             
                                                               it's humble but hers
                                          she's set up house in a shack
                                        she spreads golden spells
                                           delighting in simple things
                                          money is not where it's at
                                                             
                                                               

After school art classes enrolling now for next term. 
Warm up your winter by being creative with me. 
Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Fridays from 3.30pm

Adults mosaic, painting and photography for beginners classes, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. 
Weekends by appointment. 

Phone 073463435
0r 0273513887
email jkeen@clear.net.nz


Creative Quotes of the week.

 The most important lesson that I have learned is to trust God in every circumstance. Lots of times we go through different trials and following God's plan seems like it doesn't make any sense at all. God is always in control and he will never leave us. Allyson Felix

I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. Marilyn Monroe
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

You can never control who you fall in love with, even when you're in the most sad, confused time of your life. You don't fall in love with people because they're fun. It just happens. Kirsten Dunst
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

I've had a blessed life. I've pulled back from trying to control my destiny and gone back to accepting whatever fate has in store for me. I live for today because I don't know what'll happen tomorrow. Cilla Black
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. Marilyn Monroe
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. Marilyn Monroe
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I'm out of control, and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best. Marilyn Monroe
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

“A culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience. Dieting is the most potent political sedative in women’s history; a quietly mad population is a tractable one.”
― Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth

“Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.”
― Epictetus

“If you're in bad mood, take a deep breath.
If you're in good mood, give thanks to God.”
― Toba Beta, My Ancestor Was an Ancient Astronaut

I believe the only thing that we really have control over is our attitude. If we focus on the positive things in our lives and learn how to cope with all the surprises, we will be happier people. Brandon Jenner
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/control.html

Double Exposure Photography and Tanka. All photos and tanka copyright by Janet Keen..

              egret  hunt fresh fish 

                           paddle boarders hunt fresh waves

                so much time hunting 

             do they ever stop, take stock

            and practise satisfaction 

Janet Keen New Zealand. 

Tanka, the 5-line lyric poem of Japan is quickly becoming popular in the English-language poetry community. 

Like haiku, its shorter cousin, tanka usually is well-grounded in concrete images but also is infused with a lyric intensity and intimacy that comes from the direct expression of emotions, as well as from implication, suggestion, and nuance. 

If you already write haiku and have ever wanted to add commentary to your verses, tanka is the form for you! 

The tanka aesthetic is broad and all-encompassing. 

You can write on virtually any subject and express your thoughts and feelings explicitly.

    

1. Think of one or two simple images from a moment you have experienced and describe them in concrete terms -- what you have seen, tasted, touched, smelled, or heard. 

Write the description in two or three lines. 

As an  example:

 an egret staring at me

 me staring back

2. Reflect on how you felt or what you were thinking when you experienced this moment or perhaps later when you had time to think about it.

    Regarding the moment described above, you could think  about how often  you  have watched and photographed egrets. 

In fact, they even could be said to be a defining part of your  life.

3. Describe these feelings or thoughts in the remaining two or three lines:

 wondering for years

 what would be

 my life's defining moment

4. Combine all five lines:

 an egret staring at me

 me staring back

 wondering for years

 what would be

 my life's defining moment

5. Consider turning the third line of your poem into a pivot line, that is, a line that refers both to the top two lines as well as to the bottom two lines, so that either way they make sense grammatically. 

To do that, you may have to switch lines around.

    Here's a verse with the lines reordered to create a pivoting third line:

 wondering for years

 what would be

 my life's defining moment

 an egret staring at me

 me staring back

    To test the pivot line, divide the poem into two three-liners and see if each makes sense:

  wondering for years

  what would be

  my life's defining moment

  my life's defining moment

  an egret staring at me

  me staring back

6. Think about the form or structure of your verse. 

In Japan, tanka is often written in one line with segments consisting of 5-7-5-7-7 sound-symbols or syllables. 

Some people write English tanka in five lines with 5-7-5-7-7 syllable to approximate the Japanese model. You may wish to try writing tanka in this way. 

But Japanese syllables are shorter than English language syllables, resulting in shorter poems even though the syllable count is the same. 

To approximate the Japanese model, some poets use approximately 20-22 syllables and a short-long-short-long-long structure or even just a free form structure using five lines.

 You may wish to experiment with all these approaches. My egret verse is free form.

7. Decide where capitalization and punctuation may be needed, if at all. 

Tanka verses normally are not considered full sentences, and the first word in line 1 usually is not capitalized, nor is the last line end-stopped with a period. 

The idea is to keep the verse open and a bit fragmented or incomplete to encourage the reader to finish the verse in his or her imagination. 

Internal punctuation, while adding clarification, can stop the pivot line from working both up and down. A colon could be added without disenabling the pivot:

 wondering for years

 what would be

 my life's defining moment:

 an egret staring at me

 me staring back

I decided to use indentation instead:

 wondering for years

 what would be

 my life's defining moment

    an egret staring at me

       me staring back

A few final tips before you write your first verse: 

• Tanka verses normally do not have titles, unless they are in a "tanka sequence" or "tanka string."
• Commentary can be separate from the concrete images or woven into them.
•  Even though commentary is fine, it's a good policy -- as in any fine poetry -- to "show rather than tell."

    This is a very simplified quick start guide to 
writing tanka. 

The more you write tanka and read other’s verses, you will find many variations to the approach presented here. 

Enjoy the form and remember to share your verses 
with others! 

 A great place to start is with a tanka society such as 

the Tanka Society of America or any of the other 

organizations coming into existence around the 

globe. 

                                                       

                                     
                                               daisies glow amongst
                               crumbling lead cracked paintwork in
                                taranaki  town twilight 
                               do ghosts in forgotten shacks
                               whisper scandals to the tainted

                                                       
                                                         

Impressionist photography, dancing with dandelions and haiku

                                    rainbow dandelion, 
                           even on the dullest day
                           still strength to sparkle
                          Janet Keen Rotorua

                                     
                                      lone dandelion left
                         the wind swept others away
                         what made you stay put?
                                                                        Janet Keen, Rotorua

                                                              fly into the void
                                         rest your head amid the fluff
                                         dandelion cushion 
                                           Janet Keen NZ

                                the witches spell
                                 just a fraction now
                                of calming dandelion tea
                                endless dream of me
                                                                             Janet Keen, NZ
                                                                           
                                                                           

                                                        kissing dandelions
                                     as opposed to dead prickles
                                     less pain on the mouth
                                                                                       Janet Keen, NZ

                                                                        
                                                  rose petal finger
                                                 dandelion casts a shadow
                                                her needs always left                                                                                        Janet Keen, NZ 

                                                                                 gaps between petals
                                                     look like paths to unknown lands
                                                    take a risk and leap
                                                                       Janet Keen, Rotorua NZ


                                                           the red of her lips
                                       sweet smelling as fresh roses
                                       smudge on his collar
                                                       Janet Keen, Rotorua, NZ

                                                                    Minimalism, so fashionably sophisticated.
                                                                    stifled bloom of gloom
                                             simplicity so snoring
                                             yawn yourself awake 
                                                       Janet Keen, Rotorua, NZ

          

                                                       

petals like fingers

reaching out towards the mist

wishing to connect

Janet Keen NZ

cracks on crusty earth

impossible to avoid

      marrying a rat          

 Janet Keen, New Zealand

 beautiful allum

part of onion family

closeness makes you cry

 Janet Keen,NZ

after being with him

take notice of how you feel

soft touch may deceive

                                                                         Janet Keen, NZ

misty dandelions

a shroud of indiscretions 

taken to his grave

Janet Keen,NZ

Mixed Messages

 his tapered fingers

 brush hair away from her eyes

intentions unclear

  

                                                   
                                                gladly choose your path 
                                                trust the forks that you may take
                                                every stem has hairs
                                                             Janet Keen, NZ

                                                                         
                                                                                 Geese at the lakefront, I love them
                                                                             reputations wrong
                                                     the more often you meet them 
                                                     the softer they are

                                                            Resilience
                                                         hail falls hard now
                                       bending dandelions to mud
                                       springing  up when past
                                                                    Janet Keen, Rotorua, NZ

                                   when the storm subsides
                                light shines through the dandelions 
                                  couples reconcile
                                     Janet Keen, Rotorua NZ

                                                                 
                                               Loss
                                            the fight exploded
                                           suddenly one windy night
                                            now they are alone
                                                                                             Janet Keen, Rotorua NZ
                                                                                       

                                                                         Cobbwebbs
                                               just because it's dawn
                                              doesn't mean to say your words
                                                have been swept away
                                                     Janet Keen Rotorua, NZ
\

                                                                           leaving town
                                                                      yearning  to connect
                                             one last time before he goes 
                                              allum dandlion
                                                                                              Janet keen

                                                                 
                                                                    
                                                    leaving forever   
                                     wispy marks left on my soul
                                     in my heart you're mine                                                            
                                               Janet Keen, NZ

                                                 don't think that because
                                                 for now you have departed
                                               light has left my life
                                                         Janet Keen, New Zealand
                                                       

 Beginners Photography private tuition available for after school students and budding photographers wishing to learn how to be more creative or just how to take better photos.
English as a second language private tuition, improve your conversations and writing.
 Huge range of exciting and exclusive lessons available.
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Phone  Janet  Keen on 346-3435 
email  jkeen@clear.net.nz
Text 0273513887
Home Studio: 374 Clayton Road, Rotorua. 
New Zealand. 

Qualifications 
Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English and Politics.
ESOL Home Tutors Certificate
Certificate in Adult Teaching
Diploma Visual Arts
Gold Public Speaking Certificates
20 years teaching experience. 



Creative Quotes
 
Why is love intensified by absence?” 
 
― Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife

 “How we need another soul to cling to, another body to 

keep 

us warm. To rest and trust; to give your soul in confidence: I 

need this, I need someone to pour myself into.” 
 
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath


 “I wondered if he ever thought of me, and hated the pang I 

felt when I told myself he didn't.” 
 
― Sarah Dessen, Dreamland

 “The simple lack of her is more to me than others' 

presence.” 
 
― Edward Thomas