Let's Tanaga with The Toads!

Whilst not quite a crazy firestarter, I must confess to getting some deep pleasure from watching fires, and particularly poking around at them and seeing what happens. Luckily, we have a real fire in the house (though bonfires are another source of amusement) and when the children are in bed and Mr T is working lates or nights I can quite happily play with the fire all night. I like letting it almost die, then trying some strange configuration of not-quite-dry logs to see if they'll burn, and how, or else how little coal I have to put on, and where, to make things burn. Coal dust, which gathers at the bottom of the scuttle, is a real delight - it will completely smother a fire, but get it just right and after a while it ignites explosively as if it is a single entity. Newsprint burns with different colours depending, I deduce, on the inks used. I could go on ad infinitum actually, as the permutations are endless but fairly boring unless you are an arsonist. And I've met a few.

All of which is no introduction whatsoever to Grace O'Malley's challenge over at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - to write a tanaga.

A tanaga is a short poem of four lines, each line seven syllables with a single rhyme. Today, other rhyme schemes are used, including freestyle rhyme, but for the purpose of this exercise, let's try to stick with couplets.

So, here's our form:

XXXXXXA
XXXXXXA
XXXXXXB
XXXXXXB

The tanaga is traditionally presented without a title, has an extreme reliance on metaphor, should be emotionally charged and ask a question that begs an answer.

Which is a lot for four lines, so I doubled it and have come up with what might be an ambahan. There is a lot more detail, and other tanaga tries, here: http://withrealtoads.blogspot.com/2012/01/tuloy-po-kayo.html



Caught logs will burn their brothers,
coal dust pure fuel that smothers
till critical heat ignites
fossil thought on hoar frost nights.

Some little warmth for pleasure,
such surface lacks the pressure;
would I drop a world tonight
to make carbon facet light.