Tanka Sequence: Light in the Shadows

snow and ice melting on a slate roof
white crocus buds and leaves appearing through snow

grey walls
a grey polished floor
reflecting
our movements
the jangling keys

doors
opened and locked
by strangers
behind us a free world
turns grey and disappears

female prisoners
scan my face, my eyes
while being open
it is hard not to look
at what I can see

how blue
the light around the mother
who hurt
her child’s abuser
tears running down her cheeks

we talk and listen
to each prisoner’s song
first in rows
then in a circle
a pink light glows

© Xenia Tran

Ribbons, Winter 2023: Volume 19, Number 1

lilac white crocus buds appearing through snow
flowering currant lit up by the afternoon soon

More than twenty years ago, I ran a series of workshops in a women’s prison that linked the chakra system and its colours to meditation practice. The first session in this series inspired the above sequence.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday and a peaceful rest of the week,

with love from Xenia xxx

Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Cee’s Flower of the Day

Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #241: Spring

Weekly Prompts Midweek Challenge: Wait

Author: Tranature - quiet moments in nature

The stories, poems and photographs on Tranature are the original creative work of Xenia Tran, inspired by the natural surroundings of the Scottish Highlands.

41 thoughts on “Tanka Sequence: Light in the Shadows”

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Tina. It was deeply moving, humbling and rewarding to be able to help these women reconnect with a deeper part of themselves that they could love again 💜 xxx

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Lois. It was a very humbling and rewarding experience and it was lovely to see the changes in how they viewed themselves and those around them 💖 xxx

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  3. This is poignant and deeply moving poetry. I imagine this prison outreach must have been a learning experience for everyone involved. It’s so wonderful you were involved in such a program. 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Mike. It was a powerful learning experience for all of us and I am forever grateful they were so receptive to new ways of being 💖

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Sue and for hosting this lovely challenge too 💖

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Donna. It was a very powerful experience and the way these women responded to looking for the gifts within them was deeply moving 💖 xxx

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Sofia and for hosting this lovely challenge 💖 xxx

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Nia, I am very grateful to have been involved in this program and it was a deeply moving experience. Wishing you a blessed rest of the week too and much love back from our house to yours 💖 xxx

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words dear Cathy, it was very rewarding and humbling too ❤ A wonderful rest of the weekend to you and sweet Flynn and much love back to you all 🤗💕🐕 xxx

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