May 4
Revealed
drink in the hot arid air
exposed to the wind
strip me bare of all façade
truth shines like a grain of sand
Pamela Olson, 5/4/08
This tanka was written for the prompt,
desert at One Single Impression
Photo courtesy of Tom Claytor
21 Comments so far
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Great!
Sandblasted down to truth? I’m not sure most humans could deal with that much truth.
Interesting twist. My initial thoughts of “desert” are waste and emptiness, yet you have turned that on its head and found it to removal of masks and finding of reality.
Excellent!
“Truth shines like a grain of sand.” Lovely line, lovely poem.
Very concise and to the point. I also like “truth shines like a grain of sand”.
I like your poem a lot. I’ve always thought of coldness as baring truth, so this is something for me to chew on.
Pam, Lovely tanka to express “desert.” Have a happy weekend!
..phrasing of words at times sounds like pop -glossy,smooth-and at others like _Rock-Real,no hanky panky..this sounds like Rock(to me ie)..Thank U..
wow. you have an interesting way with words.
Excellent photo. And for verse..wonderful!
pinpricks
I love those words, ‘truth shines’.
Your tanka captured that photo beautifully. I like it.
…beautiful tanka… always felt the wind was a positive movement… and the desert… well, there is no other place like it…
deserted by distractions…erosion to the truth. beautiful words!
These are both moving; there is nothing so stark in truth as a grain of sand, it’s true!
Hi Pam,
“Revealed” really captures my experience of the desert. I’ve always found it to be a place that brings me to truth. I’ve been freewrite journaling prose the last 3 months but your blog really inspires me to experiment with poetry.
I also really enjoyed the imagery in “Gifts For the End of Day,” “Star Map” and “Back Home”.
Hope to see you guys soon!
Nothing like the bare bones of truth. Quite confronting!
Gemma
Unvarnished reality The desert does that.
Nothing like a desert trek to discover one’s true self.
really nice flow of words and movement