Enga mellom fjella

Tanaga [177.62] "Bleeding Kansas"

This is 4 linked tanagas followed by a verse that sums it up.

Bleeding Kansas

When my doberman growls grrrr,
all the frankincense and myrrh
will not settle down the cur
nor the loves that never were.

         [62a]

She quotes, "You had your chances
prowling that leafy campus!"
As if! "Bejesus, Janice,
I left my heart in Kansas."

         [62b]

Searching high and very low
Alpha, Beta and Xi Rho.
"Better yet, buy some dildos,"
cackled ravens to the crows.

         [62c]

"Don't try to be so clever,
satisfied with whomever's
great for f***ing; however,
become your lover? Never!"

         [62d]

Hark, now-ancient Raven crowed,
"you settled for whatever.
All those loves that never were
you left to bleed in Kansas."

         [62e]

KE [177.62] (2.mai.2020)

Notes: Deconstructing. I started with the phrases: "all the loves that never were", "I left my heart in Kansas" "searching high and very low" "settling for what can't be reached" "unhappy with whatever" and worked back from there.

I then looked up rhymes or in the case of Kansas near rhymes.

For "were": burr, cur, blur, fir, fleur, fur, grrrr, her, myrrh, Nur, per, purr, sir, slur, spur, stir, we're

For "Kansas": angus, anxious, atlas, bandit, cactus, campus, candace, candice, canthus, canvas, canvass, chances, dances, frances, francis, janice, landis, mantis, pandas, planless, prances, spanish, stanzas, trances, transit, vanish, xanthous, advances, arkansan, atlantis, bananas, romances, strophanthus

There were far too many for "low": beau, blow, bro, crow, doe, dough, flo, floe, flow, foe, fro, glo, glow, go, grow, ho, hoe, know, lo, mo, mow, no, o, o' oh, owe, pro, quo, rho, row, schmo, sew, show, sloe, slow, snow, so, sough, ginkgo, dildo ... and many more.

Fewer for whatever: clever, ever, lever, never, sever, Trevor, endeavor, forever, however, whenever, wherever, whichever, whoever, whomever, whatsoever, whomsoever, whosoever

Notes: "The Tanaga is a Filipino verse form that was originally composed 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. This old folk form had a resurgence of popularity in the 20th century, died down and resurfaced again mid 21st century. The poems are not titled. Originally it was a compact poem, contained in 4 lines, each is emotionally charged and asks a question that begs an answer."

"The elements of the Tanaga are:
1. a tetrastich, a poem in 4 lines. However, modern poets have modified it to longer works in a stanzaic pattern of any number of quatrains.
2. syllabic, 7-7-7-7 syllables per line.
3. rhymed, originally monorhymed aaaa. Modern Tanagas also use aaaa bbbb etc., or aabb ccdd etc or abba cddc etc or any combination rhyme can be used.
4. asks a question seeking an answer
5. composed with the liberal use of metaphor
6. untitled. But in this poetic world we kind of have to title our poems for identity's sake.

56,870