Upon Contact: #VerseLove Day 15, a Japanese Tradition of 31 Syllables (Tanka) and a Better Evening with Friends.

I first learned of tankas while teaching in Japan: 5, 7, 5, 7, 7, as an extension of the haiku and for narrating thoughts of nature I condenses, formulaic form to inspire insight. Yesterday, #VerseLove offered another challenge: to write 31 syllables in three lines, and more 31-syllable stanzas if you wished. I set out to capture Friday's food festival with good friends, and a new colleague who has moved to Stratford to Sacred Hear University from Kenya.

The food was delicious and the conversation even more tasty...as Chitunga said, the company was family. I'm not sure if we'll ever get back to the pre-Covid backyard shenanigans, but on Friday we tried (even if it was too cold to eat outside. Either way, it was great food, and that matters tremendously.

                  Upon Contact

     ~b.r. crandall

After green beans steamed in a sauna of hot olive oil,

the almonds and cranberries began to heal

spontaneously…

…tips of steak, marinated with Worcestershire sauce, 

waltzed with peppercorn, barbecue rub, and garlic

homeopathy.

Cajun-skewered zucchini with shrimp bikinis,

lymed with tomatoes tossed on spinach & romaine…

Stratford creolization.

Friday evening, a friendship & conference with IPAs and wine, 

a colonial conversation capped with cannolis, 

strawberries.