Aiming towards the sun,
the hawk shows dedication.
Cultivating grace
in those who witness her flight.
She shows the path to follow.
Photo by Rachel McDermott on Unsplash
Song Choice: Learning to Fly by Tom Petty
Liner Notes for This Groove: This tanka was written in honor of a fellow student of Japanese tea ceremony. She recently got her tea name. What that means is that she has practiced tea for a long enough time at a high enough skill level that she earned a name that shows she is part of the Urasenke tea school lineage. My tea teacher told me that in older times tanka poetry was sometimes composed in honor of students who achieve a high level of proficiency. I decided to try my hand at it. She seemed quite pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out (she had no idea I wrote poetry at all).
I am years (and years) away from earning my tea name, but I do hope that if I do earn one, it will be as lovely a celebration as we had for her.
Although it is not a thing I will ever aspire to myself (for one thing, I dislike tea!) I do love reading about your experiences in this art. Your tanka is exquisite, beautifully symbolic, a fitting way to honour the new member of the lineage.
ReplyDelete(I have some appreciation of these things, because I became a Reiki Master in one of the older lineages which honour the ancient Japanese traditions surrounding it.)
Thanks, Rosemary. There is so much history to be found in Japanese tea ceremony. And I'm having fun learning it.
DeleteI didn't know about the tradition of tea names and honorary tanka -- very cool!
ReplyDeleteI had been studying a few years before I realized it was a thing too. :D
DeleteI did not know about this ceremony. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across it when the tea school did a demonstration in Philadelphia. Since then, I've been hooked!
DeleteCertainly a path to follow, soaring into the light. Didn't know there was a tea name custom, sounds very cool... I love the idea of celebrating skill in any which way... do you know what your tea name will be when it happens?
ReplyDeleteYes, it will likely be Soro. The first part "so" is a part of the grandmaster of our tea school's name. "Ro" is the first part of my name. LOL, I'd love it to be tweaked slightly to be Zoro, but Soro is better than Soda (there's a student with the name David in my group).
DeleteHow interesting to learn all this about tea. I would never have known how really important it is. The hawk tanka is special, although to me, a non tea drinker, I am interested in following the hawk itself. Love it!
ReplyDeleteI know how much you love your birds. <3
DeleteThe hawk provides soaring symbolism for the goal. A traditional art form that aspires to tranquility is my cup of tea, haha … hope you'll pardon the pun. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL, I do enjoy the tranquility I find in my practice.
DeleteThis is a beautiful piece, Rommy. In tone, in imagery, in meaning... I love what it says about the subject and how her journey will inspire others.
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks Magaly. Our honoree is a really dedicated student and she's been very helpful to all the ones who are newer to the art as well.
DeleteWhat a beautiful response to the success of another. So many times in this world people act with spite or sulkiness , but you beautiful soul shine out XXX
ReplyDeleteI am super grateful for how helpful she has been to my tea studies and hope I can be helpful to others too. <3
DeleteIt's comparable to the wrestlers' belts, in that one needs to work, be proficient, and seasoned. Thanks for the education.
ReplyDeleteSort of like your poem, I saw four of our black ducks that usually are by the ponds and rivulets, but they were by the sidewalk in our neighborhood. Mama duck was their usual leader, teacher, but not in site today. I hope one of them has learned navigation. We get a lot of migrating birds who stay here for a while, having babies and having flown over the Gulf of Mexico. But the black ducks stay year-round.
..
I hope those ducks get to wherever they need to be too!
DeleteRommy, I quite literally, have chills from shoulders to toes reading your tanka! I love reading and writing tanka, this is amazing. I also learned about 'tea studies' which I had no knowledge of, so cheers to you today!!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you for the very kind words, Helen!
DeleteI must say I'm very much appreciative about the meditative quality of anything done with grace and finesse your tanka , the flight of the hawk and the tea ceremony
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful, writing a tanka for a fellow student. The last line is so apt.
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese take their skills with so much pride and honor and respect.
Love the tanka, and I also love the idea of Japanese tea ceremony! I've always thought of tea-making as a ceremony, the infusion of the maker's thoughts along with the infusion of the tea. Now you have me wanting to look into tea names! :-)
ReplyDeleteLovely tanka, Rommy. I'd like to be present at a tea ceremony.
ReplyDelete