Burning Heart: A Tanaga*

Burning Heart: A Tanaga*

Spring’s warm sprays defrost cold heart
Frozen veins wake up, restarts
Your roots slowly crawls, take part
Will you make heart a sweet art?

I nurture, tend, rear, your pulps
as you reveal bold red-striped bulbs
stunned, dazed, amazed I gulp,
heart’s now burning with your love.

—

©2016 Rosemawrites@A Reading Writer. All Rights Reserved.

Photo credit: Fine Art America

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In response to Napowrimo Day 5.

 

Today, I challenge you to spend some time looking at the names of heirloom plants, and write a poem that takes its inspiration from, or incorporates the name of, one or more of these garden rarities.

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*Tanaga

• The Tanaga is a Filipino stanzaic form that was originally written in Tagolog which to my ear is one of the more musical of languages. (Kumusta ka? Mabuti salam at) The form dates back to the 16th century and has an oral tradition. The poems are not titled. Each is emotionally charged and asks a question that begs an anwer. This form was found at Kaleidoscope.The Tanaga is:
  • stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
  • syllabic, 7-7-7-7 syllables per line.
  • rhymed, originally aaaa bbbb cccc etc., modern Tanagas also use aabb ccdd etc or abba cddc etc or any combination rhyme can be used.
  • composed with the liberal use of metaphor.
  • untitled.

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Burning Heart

It’s no wonder striped tulips were among the most valuable during the Holland’s tulip-mania in the 1600s. ‘Burning Heart’ is an exceptional selection with creamy blooms streaked with bold red.

Name: Tulipa ‘Burning Heart’

Bloom Season: Mid spring

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: To 2 feet tall

Zones:4-6