“Collected Tanka: Ame No Nikki” (Volume 2, 2008)
Friday, December 12th, 2008..
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“From tanka’s long history – over 1300 years recorded in Japan- the most famous use of the poetry form of tanka was as secret messages between lovers. Arriving home in the morning, after having dallied with a lover all night, it became the custom of well-mannered persons to write an immediate thank-you note for the pleasures of the hospitality. Stylized into a convenient five lines… the little poem expressing one’s feelings were sent in special paper containers, written on a fan, or knotted on a branch or stem of a single blossom.” (Jane Reichhold, Tanka for the Memory)
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rain hammers down on the unfinished building cranes perch..
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cars drift through the valley exhaust fumes mingle with bird song..
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damn the cold and this awful feeling not fit to complete a single tanka..
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the street emptied of traffic sounds— birds! insects! the wind!..
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walking to the shop I make a list— car, tree, ant, house, road..
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silence broken by the sound of a swallow full moon..
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drip! drip! drip! after the rain an old tin can makes a fine drum..
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sky and earth touch— writing our vows we listen to the rain..
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meeting at the celebrants to run through our vows we exchange shoes for slippers..
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damp sheets cool in the night air we share a cigarette in bed..
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“Sky and earth,” “drip! drip! drip!” and “damp sheets” first published in Modern English Tanka (Vol. 3, #2, 2008). All other poems previously unpublished. Read more.
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