These
tanka are both written after several
"I, who" tanka by Shiki in a favorite book, From the Country of
Eight Islands edited by Sato and Watson:
I, who
have almost nothing,
want little
beyond freedom from this,
freedom from that.
(^*Editor's
Choice: Short Verse)
I, who
wanted a woman's love,
found instead
the way of poetry
and its passing fancies
Karma
Tenzing Wanchuc
k
| Gillena Cox
- Trinidad & Tobago WI |
another
year....
alone with my thoughts
of old and new
how quiet this pondering heart
amidst the fireworks outside
Gillena
Cox
not
as much dust
on the juniper's branches
it's moving day
papa's words from long ago
so many things we don't need
neighborhood
sled hill
on a minnesota night
the moonlit snowdust
that by its appearance makes
even this grown man humble
an'ya
| Darrell Byrd
- California, USA |
lurking
at
the edge of a dream
I feel dawn
the pale light touches me
gentle as her hand
birthday
sixty five voyages
around the sun
smiles I've seen light the way
for my lonely trek back home
Darrell
Byrd
| Donna
Ferrell - Ohio, USA |
Carrying
the cry
Of departing geese--
This winter wind;
The pine branch is not alone
In soughing as it's bowed.
Donna
Ferrell
| Allen McGill
- San Miguel de Allende, MX |
empty handed
the old violinist's
fingers play the air
signing to a deaf friend
about a joke he'd heard
Allen
McGill
heightened
in the starlit night
pale birches
like stalwart soldiers
on guard as I sleep
over
the years
a growing acquaintance
with dying
my birthday roses
wither in the vase
Kirsty
Karkow
| Elizabeth
Howard - Tennessee, USA |
a
blur of orange
across the lake
the azalea I seek--
like other desires
so near and yet so far
Elizabeth
Howard
For My Absent Friend
Fly . . .
like the bird
who only migrates
whose beauty lingers
on an empty branch
Poetry Reading
one by one
so carefully they choose
their seats . . .
not many come to hear
poetry on summer nights
Art Gallery
as life
is a promise
in each seed
so the poem is born
in the soul of the painter
Dina Cox
| Victor P.
Gendrano - California, USA |
A
tanka series:
she
nonchalantly
offers her arm
for the nurse's needle
as I look away
she feels my pain
sultry evening
Chanel's gardenia scent
follows her trail
I hug her pillow tight
wakening from the dream
late
autumn chill
they wheel my wife out
from heart surgery
a full moon ushers
the light of dawn
Victor
P. Gendrano
so
many weeds
each with a name, a purpose
bolder than flowers
a dandelion's soft tufts
take wind to fulfil a wish
semi
(Terrie Relf)
| Keith
McMahen - Florida, USA |
barbed
wire
down the middle
of this field
how long ago was
this strung between us
startled
by a dream of you
I lie here
in pitch blackness
flooded with longing
all
the night sky
reflected in this pond
so serene
if only I could quiet
my heart
Keith
McMahen
| Michael
Blaine - Delaware, USA |
yellow
Buddleia,
the weight of need bends them
toward the ground-
I want the butterflies
to want me this much
above
the tree tops
gray clouds and gray clouds
move swiftly left to right
a brief moment I search elsewhere
for fire that does not exist
Michael
Blaine
