After the rainfall, or: Before shutters rise
A Tanka–Shadorma conversation
after the rainfall
water gathers in the cracks
of worn limestone steps;
throughout all the passing years
sandals polish them brighterblocked alley
rainwater darkens
the slick stones
behind wires
Jerusalem sand settles
untouched by footstepsdetour signs flutter
above puddled gravel lanes
near the light rail tracks;
children weave through commuters
as though the route always fitoffice shoes
face a spray-painted
barrier
phone map glows
beside a sudden dead-end
under cranesbench by the crosswalk
a man folds his newspaper
to guide some tourists;
their brief laughter disappears
into the market chaoskiosks close
plastic bags flutter
in gutters
voices fade
softening splintered wood grain
before shutters rise
W3 poetry prompt
For last week’s W3 prompt, Reena encourages us to combine a Western poetic form with a Japanese poetry form. In this poem, I used alternating tankas and shadormas to create a conversation about continuity, disruption, and the fleeting ways people adapt and connect within a changing Jerusalem.
The tankas draw on the older Japanese tradition’s sensitivity to continuity, impermanence, and everyday human connection, while the more modern shadormas respond in a sharper, more skeptical voice, focusing on interruption, disorientation, and the fragile traces people leave behind.
Let’s write poetry together!
When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.
–
Ben Harper (b. 1969)
Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!
#Adaptation #Continuity #Impermanence #Jerusalem #Poem #Poetry #Resilience #Shadorma #Tanka #Transience #W3
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