Take Five Best Contemporary Tanka

TAKE FIVE Best Contemporary Tanka

Edited by M. Kei, editor-in-chief (USA), Sanford Goldstein (Japan), Pamela A. Babusci (USA), Patricia Prime (NZ), Bob Lucky (China), and Kala Ramesh (India). MODERN ENGLISH TANKA PRESS Post Office Box 43717 Baltimore, Maryland 21236 www.modernenglishtankapress.com [email protected]

Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka Copyright © 2009 by M. Kei.

Front cover art, “Cobalt-Blue Series 1,” Copyright © 2009 by Pamela A. Babusci. Used by permission.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a scholar or reviewer who may quote brief passages.

Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka Edited by M. Kei, Sanford Goldstein, Pamela A. Babusci, Patricia Prime, Bob Lucky, and Kala Ramesh.

Printed in the United States of America. 2009.

ISBN 978-1-935398-08-0

[email protected] www.modernenglishtankapress.com www.themetpress.com Acknowledgments

The Editors wish to acknowledge the kind assistance of Alexis Rotella and Liam Wilkinson. Their support for the project was appreciated, and especially helpful in the earlier months while the project was still taking shape and the magnitude of the challenge first appeared. The editors wish to especially thank Alexis Rotella for suggesting the title, 'Take Five,' and Pamela A. Babusci for the original cover art.

The editors also thank the many editors, poets, and fans who submitted books, journals, websites, photocopies, PDFs, and other materials for our perusal.

Table of Contents

Introduction, 9 Individual Tanka, 37 Tanka Sequences, 181 Tanka Prose, 201 Editor Biographies, 211 Credits, 217 List of Venues, 231

Introduction

Part One: History

Tanka is a form of poetry originally developed during the archaic period of Japan. A goddess, Wakahime ('poetry princess'), is said to have composed the first one as a lament over her dead husband. It is she who instructed human beings how to write tanka. Everyone, from servant girls to Empresses and border guards to ministers of state, wrote tanka. (Or as it was called in those days, waka.) The form was well established by the 700s. The Man'yosh! (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) was completed by 792 AD and contains 4100 tanka as well as miscellaneous other poems. By the time the Kokinwakash! (Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems) in 905 AD, waka had obliterated all other forms to become synonymous with 'Japanese poetry.' Ki no Tsurayuki (872-945 AD), editor-in-chief of the Kokinwakash!, penned a preface that opened with the lines, "Our native poetry springs from the heart of man as its seed, producing the countless leaves of language."1 His poetics

1 Ki no Tsurayuki, adapted from Primitive and Mediaeval Japanese Texts translated into English by F. V. Dickins. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1906. pp 379-391. Take Five

reigned supreme for a thousand years and is still influential in English-language tanka. Waka continued to be the dominant form of poetry for a thousand years. During this time the Emperors of Japan established themselves as patrons of poetry and poetry was integral to the public and private lives of the educated classes. Masterpieces were produced, leading to the canonization of great poets as 'Immortals' in the field. It also led to the calcification of poetry. Japanese poetry became increasingly erudite and inaccessible, but even so, its flexibility and versatility spawned several freer forms, such as renga and ky!ka. Renga in turn spun off haiku during the 1600s. Ky!ka, the comic and irreverent form of waka written in vernacular language, enjoyed a great popularity, then it too fell into decline. By the end of the nineteenth century, waka was a zombie literature. It walked and moved, but it had no life left in it. Exposed to everything Western during the Meiji period, reformers such as Masaoka Shiki, Yosano Akiko and her husband Yosano Tekkan, Ishikawa Takobuku, and Sait! Mokichi modernized waka poetry. It was Shiki that invented the term 'tanka' to signify the break with the past. Today successful tanka poets are celebrities and their books hit the bestseller lists in Japan. Machi Tawara's Salad Anniversary has sold over two million copies in Japanese and has been translated twice into English. The most recent development is 'cell phone tanka,' in which young people compose and send tanka on their cell phones. Tanka continues to evolve and

10 Best Contemporary Tanka find new audiences who engage the poetry in a myriad of ways. Although tanka has sometimes been thought to be a recent development, it has been composed and published in English for over a hundred years. The first known publication was Ida Henrietta Bean's book, Tanka, in 1899. Sadakichi Hartmann, better known as an art critic than poet, published tanka in his 1904 Drifting Flowers of the Sea and Others Poems. The first master of tanka in English was Jun Fujita, whose 1923 Tanka : Poems in Exile, successfully bridged the gap between English and Japanese and presented tanka written in a way that melds the intent of tanka with the reality of English. Publishing tanka and some criticism from 1919-1929, Fujita coined one of the shortest and most cogent critiques of Japanese short form poetry. He complained that poets who counted syllables were adopting the "carcass" but not the "essence" of Japanese poetry. He went on to ask, "Where is the fine and illusive mood, big enough to illuminate the infinity of the universe?"2 This illusive quality has been repeatedly rediscovered and renamed in English. Lucille Nixon, writing in the introduction to Sounds from the Unknown, said, "The image, in other words, the sensory intake, must be clear, but there must be enough space around it so that the reader may delight himself with it by using his own

2 Fujjita, Jun. “A Japanese Cosmopolite.” Poetry Magazine. June, 1922, pp 162-164.

11 Take Five

associations."3 This is the same quality that Fujiwara no Shunzei (1114-1204 AD) called y!gen. Often translated as 'mystery and depth,' Shunzei said, "If it is a good poem, it will possess a kind of atmosphere distinct from its words and their configuration and yet accompanying them."4 Denis M. Garrison called it "dreaming room," which he defined as "some empty space inside the poem which the reader can fill with his personal experience, from his unique social context."5 While arguments persist over the exact definition of tanka and the importance of a formal form in English, it is generally accepted that dreaming room (in any of its incarnations) is an essential part of tanka. Tanka was published in Japanese in North America as least as early as the 1920s. Numerous tanka poetry circles sprang up among Japanese immigrants and their descendants in Hawaii and the US mainland. They published journals and member anthologies. Many of them kept writing and publishing even while interned in the United States and Canada during World War II. In 1957, Lucille Nixon became the first American not of Japanese descent to win the Emperor of Japan's annual poetry contest. Her

3 Nixon, Lucille M., ed. Sounds from the Unknown. Denver, CO: Alan Swallow, 1963, p 43.

4 Fujiwara no Shunzei, quoted by Earl Miner, An Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1968, p 101-102.

5 Garrison, Denis M. ‘Dreaming Room.’ Modern English Tanka. Vol. 1:3. Baltimore, MD: Modern English Tanka Press, Spring, 2007, pp 3-4.

12 Best Contemporary Tanka housekeeper, Tomoe Tana, herself a previous winner, tutored Nixon in Japanese and poetry and introduced her to the tanka poetry circle of which she was a member. In 1963, Nixon and Tana translated, edited, and published Sounds from the Unknown, by Japanese Canadians and Americans. An educator by profession, Nixon succeeded in getting tanka added to the school curriculum in California. Thanks to her outreach, other Americans began writing tanka and tanka was taught to schoolchildren. Circa 1970 the first organization for English- speaking tanka poets was founded: the Tanka Chapter of the Chaparral Poets of California. The Tanka Chapter published a member anthology in 1975, entitled simply, Tanka. In addition to individual tanka, it contains some very short sequences which are probably the oldest sequences published in English. The Tanka Chapter operated for about a decade. Also during this period the first tanka circles were formed in Canada, and the Kisaragi Poem Study Group of Toronto published an anthology called Maple (1975). It may have been accompanied by other member anthologies of the same name in 1972 and 1978. The first efforts at historiography also began during the 70s. Tomoe Tana published Tomoshibi in tribute to her friend and colleague, Lucille Nixon, in 1978. Later, in 1985, she wrote her master's thesis on the subject of The history of Japanese tanka poetry in America (San José State University). During the 1950s and 60s, haiku became popular in the West, and some haiku poets encountered tanka at that time. However, the

13 Take Five

biggest influx came during the 70s and 80s. With so many haiku enthusiasts bursting upon the field, tanka was rediscovered and reshaped yet again. Tanka was, by definition, 'not haiku,' and the supposed dichotomy between 'objective' haiku and 'subjective' tanka was promulgated. Various theories of tanka-ness were espoused, with the swing line and pivot enjoying a vogue. During this time tanka absorbed a degree of Romanticism that had not formerly been present in the genre, so much so that for a long time the Romantic assumption dominated the field. The classical waka of Japan, especially that which appeared in the Kokinwakash!, and its sequel, the Shin-Kokinwawash!, were immensely popular. Saigy! (1118-1190 AD) was the chief Japanese poet admired and imitated. Critics in the twenty-first century have struggled to find a name for this style of poetry, and so it has been called 'Romantic,' 'neo-classical,' 'traditional,' and other terms. The last thirty years have been particularly prolific; the amount and variety of tanka has expanded steadily. (Cf.' A History of Tanka Publishing in English'6 and 'The Labyrinth of Tanka'7 for more detailed analyses of history and trends in tanka in English.) Starting in 2006, the variety and number of tanka venues has

6 Kei, M. 'A History of Tanka Publishing in English.' Modern English Tanka 2:2. Baltimore, MD: Modern English Tanka Press, Winter, 2007, pp 198-219.

7 Kei, M. 'The Labyrinth of Tanka.' Modern English Tanka 2:3. Baltimore, MD: Modern English Tanka Press, Spring, 2008, pp 208-228.

14 Best Contemporary Tanka expanded to include journals dedicated to tanka prose, short formal verse in Western and Eastern styles, tanka poetry of place, illustrated tanka, themed anthologies, and more.

Part Two: Contemporary Tanka

Although the publication of anthologies has become an annual rite, no previous anthology has attempted to systematically survey all tanka published in a given year. The editorial team of Take Five : Best Contemporary Tanka, read over a hundred venues and over fourteen thousand poems published in English to choose the best contemporary tanka. In order to ensure that the field was covered, every editor was assigned to read particular venues but was free to nominate any works in addition to their assigned reading. Approximately two thousand poems were initially offered for consideration, but that number was whittled down to about four hundred after the first cut. In the end, 321 individual tanka were chosen as well as several tanka sequences and tanka prose pieces by a total of 138 authors. The editorial team did not attempt to define or prescribe tanka; anything that was presented as tanka was read. Editor Bob Lucky described the experience:

I’ve never read so many tanka in my life. At the end of it, I began to question what a tanka is. I was drowning in trends and themes, some of which intrigued me and some of which drove me to distraction. I

15 Take Five

despaired over the limitations of the form and simultaneously marveled at what could be accomplished in five lines.

Worthy poems were selected first, then analyzed to see what they had in common and what sort of features they exhibited as compared to the bulk of tanka published in English. This was the reverse of the usual editorial process in which an editor or team of editors starts out with a goal and seeks poems to fulfill the goal. The diversity of editorial opinion today is creating an increasing number of venues featuring a greater number of treatments; the goal of Take Five was to to survey and fairly treat all tanka published in English. Any anthology that claims to offer the 'best' must review and include various and sometimes contradictory ideas about what constitutes tanka in English. No doubt readers will find choices they agree with as well as some they do not. What is hoped is that the team has done justice to the broad sweep of literature called 'tanka in English.' The reader will find many examples of formal as well as informal tanka in the pages that follow. Formal tanka adhere to several different formats, such as the classic sanj"ichi form of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables (with minor variations), short-long- short-long-long lines (SLSLL), or even 2-3-2-3-3 beats, but the majority of tanka in the book are informal works following no fixed format. This does not mean they are free verse; tanka are bounded in length so that they may be anywhere from five to thirty-five syllables long. The

16 Best Contemporary Tanka majority fall somewhere in the range of seventeen to twenty-five syllables. Tanka is conventionally formatted on five lines, although this is not a requirement. The editorial team reviewed tanka written on a single line and omitted them, not because of their format, but because they did not reach the highest level of literary merit necessary to be included. Five lines are a convenient way to present the five poetic phrases that make up a tanka; the vast majority of the poems within the anthology meet this criteria. A 'poetic phrase' is not a grammatical phrase; while there is no consensus on exactly what a 'poetic phrase' is, it can be described as a 'unit of meaning and prosody.' A poetic phrase may be composed of a single word, a group of words, a grammatical phrase, an image, or a unit of sound. In some cases it is even a visual unit on the page. Items which appear in the same phrase form a coherent and prosodic whole, although this does not rule out the use of fragmentation, disconnection, or syncopation. A phrase must have sufficient strength to stand alone on its line or else perform a critical function in the larger structure of the poem. Consider André Surridge's tanka:

the old woman with a walking stick bent over her daughter's grave like a question mark

The opening phrase, 'the old woman,' tells us the subject of the poem and immediately sketches

17 Take Five

the outlines of the picture we will see. The 'walking stick' adds a detail that develops further in the line 'bent over.' The image that forms is an elderly woman like many we have seen, but 'her daughter's grave' transforms this from a stereotype of old age into a portrait of grief. The hunched form of the old woman and the straight staff of the walking stick suggests a question mark, a mark that represents the questions asked by anyone who has ever lost a loved one. The poem reverberates with the anguish of "Why?" This is tanka's great power: five phrases are a complex and detailed structure that can be manipulated in hundreds of ways to achieve the poet's goal. Small but powerful, tanka harnesses words to express the inexpressible. Poems that do not have five poetic phrases lack the complexity of structure that enables them to perform the multivalency of meaning that results from interweaving the written and unwritten portions of the poem. Tanka has been continuously published for fourteen hundred years because it is strong and flexible. A common trend in contemporary tanka today is to divide tanka into 'formal' and 'informal' verse depending on whether the poem adheres to a structure based on counting syllables or a facsimile thereof. Yet a poem can be formatted in either the sanj"ichi or SLSLL format without being made up of five poetic phrases; the mere formatting of a short poem on five lines is not sufficient to establish its identity as tanka. Novice poets often make the mistake of padding

18 Best Contemporary Tanka or enjambing lines merely to satisfy the syllable count. Tanka has a pentafid form without adhering to a fixed form; or rather five poetic phrases is the fixed form. To achieve the maximum effect from such a small amount of material the poet must manipulate word choice, word order, word groups, the various large and small structures within the poem, the white space around it, rhythm, sound, caesura, and everything else. It does not tolerate small errors — there is no room for mistake. A new line cannot be added to make up for a deficient line; adjectives and adverbs cannot be stuffed in to elaborate the image. The level of self-discipline and mastery of language required pushes the tanka poet into a different place than the writer of free verse. Tanka is the extra turn of the screw. The poem by Robidoux below might be mistaken for free verse, but even a casual look reveals its pentapartite structure:

I could tell from the look in her eyes the cancer had spread from her lungs to her liver and into both our lives

Barbara Robidoux

The poem subdivides into three strophes: I could tell from the look in her eyes / the cancer had spread from her lungs to her liver / and into both our lives. The first is short, the second long, and the third short; thus the alternating rhythm that

19 Take Five

is a hallmark of tanka is present in the larger structures of the poem. It also conforms to the classical use of strophe, antistrophe, and epode. In ancient Greece, the first strophe was sung by the chorus as it moved across the stage, the antistrophe as it reversed direction, and the epode as the chorus returned to center. The same emotional movements are present in this tanka. Just as the Greek chorus stops dead center for the epode, so, too, is the reader stopped dead center by the final line.

only a one sentence rebuke to my kid and all day the lousy after-taste

Sanford Goldstein

Poet Sanford Goldstein's tanka is indelibly stamped with the truth he lives. He avoids sugarcoating and records episodes that other poets never dare to put into words. Editor Kala Ramesh says, "How well Goldstein has crafted it. Exquisite! Line one is long, then short lines, each word folding into the other, until in the last line, I shuddered with that 'lousy after-taste.'" Robidoux and Goldstein both reach deep into their respective traditions to create thoroughly modern poems. Tanka often divide into two strophes composed of kami-no-ku, or upper verse (first three lines) and the shimo-no-ku, or lower verse

20 Best Contemporary Tanka

(last two lines). The informed reader will recognize that the kami-no-ku was broken off to form the haiku of 5-7-5 syllables. The West is so familiar with haiku that the structural division of kami-no-ku and shimo-no-ku appears to be the normal and everlasting structure of tanka. Well- meaning teachers advise students to write a haiku and tack on two lines of subjective response. To simplify tanka in this way skims over history, ignores evolution, and closes off the luxuriant possibilities of the five phrase form. Still, many good tanka have been written in the form and it continues to be popular.

rare is it for me to think of my father in any kind way— he sat in his favorite chair as if the trap of age had sprung

Sanford Goldstein

Goldstein offers us three lines of subjective response followed by two lines of imagery, all dripping with an emotion that does not need explication for us to imagine what might have passed between him and his father. Such autobiographical works are a hallmark of Goldstein's style, and many poets have heeded his admonition (repeated from Takuboku) that tanka is a diary of the emotional life of the poet. Autobiographical poems are so common in contemporary tanka that it requires a conscious effort to remember that poetry may be edited or

21 Take Five

even a complete fabrication, or that it may address entirely different subjects.

a man and boy arguing as they load stone onto a donkey's back, the pyramids behind them rising tall in the thistles

Michael McClintock

History is generally thought to be too large a subject to be tackled by a form as small as tanka; likewise, the didactic and political nature of history is often thought to be contrary to the intimacy of tanka. Yet anything is a legitimate subject for tanka. McClintock presents a scene that is sharp and ambiguous, foreign, and very much at home. A man and boy loading a donkey and arguing in Eternal Egypt cannot be truly different from a father and son of any nationality arguing as they load a truck; McClintock has foregrounded the universality of human experience against an exotic backdrop. This time it is the pyramids that are dwarfed while ordinary human beings loom large.

I am I am not I am as I walk in & out of mist

A. A. Marcoff

22 Best Contemporary Tanka

A minimalist tanka, it varies only slightly from the classic short-long-short-long-long pattern, as well as dividing neatly into a 3 / 2 line structure. Zen-like in its simplicity, it shows that autobiographical moments are not necessarily limited to the internal world. Was the poet simply walking through patches of fog? Or was he deliberately playing with the mist, stepping in and out of it to see what couldn't be seen? The reader may view fog differently the next time he or she sees it. Ancient tanka were often built on a structure of 5-7 / 5-7-7. The first two lines were a preface containing a place name, stock phrase or poetic epithet that provided an imagistic introduction to the lower three lines.8 In other words, the first two lines could be discarded and the remainder made a complete and coherent poetic statement. This does not mean that the first two lines were unimportant, but it does reverse our contemporary notion that the first three lines are the most important and the last two are an addendum.

and when the sand runs out? the stillness of the hourglass and I are one

Denis M. Garrison

8 Other forms were also used, cf. A Waka Anthology, Vol 1, edited and translated by Edwin Cranston.

23 Take Five

If the first two lines of Garrison's poem are omitted, what remains is a complete poetic thought, "the stillness of the hourglass and I are one." The sands of time running out are a stock image in Western literature, but the lines are not disposable. They prepare us for the body of the poem. Garrison has inserted an unexpected turn between the upper strophe and the lower; where the conventions of the West lead us to expect a homily about the fleeting nature of time, pleasure, glory, et cetera, Garrison's embrace of stillness is an unexpected surprise. The break may be placed anywhere from the end of line one to the end of line four; the break can even come mid-line. There can be three or four, even five breaks, as is in the case of the 'list' tanka in which various elements of a list are collated together in a poem.

narrow layers of an ancient lakebed visible on the sheer rock wall I finger-walk back through time

David Rice

Rice's poem divides into a 4 / 1 line format in which the first four lines give us the sensation of falling down the face of a cliff, but the fifth line zooms into a close-up view of someone doing what we have all done: walking our fingers over a surface. The content and form match one

24 Best Contemporary Tanka another; the grand impersonality of the cliff is translated into an intimate connection with the scope of time.

that final spring we were together flying our kite—until you let loose the string and heart from soul divided

an'ya an'ya uses a kite to link the internal and external worlds. The caesura comes at the exact middle of the poem; the em dash cleanly divides the poem into 'before' and 'after' in a way that no word could do. Only the blankness of a punctuation mark can sever the two parts of the poem while simultaneously joining them.

autumn in Paris . . . after leaving the bookstore loved by Hemingway i write a poem on a leaf for the river to read

Jeanne Emrich

Emrich's 'autumn in Paris' does not adhere to formal expectations, but it is still a lyrical work. Editor Patricia Prime says, "The musical quality of tanka is epitomized in this poem by its choice of rhythm, line length, and words [ . . .] In a few simple words, Jeanne Emrich sums up for us the

25 Take Five

joy of being in Paris in autumn when the leaves are changing colour."

how tenderly he delivers the eulogy and kisses the forehead of the wife he cheated on

Aurora Antonovic

Tanka can even be written in a 'rush of five lines down.' Indeed, Five Lines Down was the name of a landmark tanka journal of the 1990s edited by Sanford Goldstein and Kenneth Tanemura, and 'five lines down' has established itself as a stock phrase signifying 'tanka' in the poetic language of our genre. The structure lends itself well to an outpouring of emotion, but Antonovic has delivered a more measured and ironic view. Editor Sanford Goldstein says, "I find Aurora Antonovic's tanka very sharp and realistic . . . [it] emphasizes the human condition, the masks we have to put on so often in life, but then the truth will out, a dramatic unexpected ending." The importance of the five-part structure is so great that an editor would be justified in rejecting a poem without it. However, a handful of poems that we accept as tanka contain greater or fewer, or else call into question what we mean when we say 'poetic phrase.'

26 Best Contemporary Tanka

plucking out another gray hair . . . i sign up for inner goddess dancing

Pamela A. Babusci

this past August, all at once, the abuse of a decade condensed into a bullet— there's a house for sale in our neighborhood

Larry Kimmel

Does Babusci's use of 'dancing' on a line by itself qualify a 'poetic phrase?' Does Kimmel's condensation of the two grammatical phrases 'all at once, the abuse of a decade' into a single line also qualify as a 'poetic phrase?' Does Babusci say too little? Does Kimmel say too much? Yet neither poem can be changed without damaging them. Each poem is excellent as it stands, and they are accepted by the editorial team as examples of the infinite variety and flexibility of tanka in English. Indeed, flexibility in format is the key difference between tanka in English and Japanese. By adhering to a fixed format, Japanese tanka provide for almost infinite content, whereas English tanka, by selecting content and approach as significant definers of

27 Take Five

the form, have restricted content and permitted plasticity in format. Tanka in English must define itself not only in the context of its Japanese origin, but also and especially in the context of Western literature. It is not enough for tanka to demonstrate its connections to Japanese roots; it must compete with other Western forms for the attention and appreciation of an English-speaking audience. Tanka is a newcomer in the garden and must adapt if it is going to survive as anything more than a hothouse exotic. In short, tanka must become a vernacular poetic form in English. The poems chosen for Take Five show that the process of acclimatization is well under way. One of the key criticisms of the sanj"ichi form is that such poems say too much. When well written they are complete unto themselves and leave little room for the reader's participation. When poorly written they muddle too many images and ideas together. Because of differences between Japanese and English, to obtain the necessary compaction and lightness, a poem must usually be about 19-23 syllables. Yet sometimes thirty-one syllables is exactly the right length. Consider William Hart's tanka:

a rooster on a leg string stands at the end of his world daring traffic— even a chicken feels the pinch of a tethered life

28 Best Contemporary Tanka

The five poetic phrases that are the central definition of tanka are obvious, the imagery is clear and vivid, and the similarity of the chicken to ourselves is an electric spark that jumps into the heart. Who has not felt what this chicken has felt? Editor Bob Lucky remarked about this poem, "And that is one of the beauties of tanka, that any poet at any given moment can make that moment uniquely his or her own and yet present it in a way that the reader feels it is his or hers." C. W. Hawes' sanj"ichi tanka joins mastery of form with a subject matter rarely broached in tanka. Not only that, but the swing line on line three divides the poem into an upper and lower verse, each of which is complete in itself but which join together to make a greater whole.

blood-soaked the bodies littering the marketplace this hot afternoon one melon and a small child not hit by flying shrapnel

Hawes demonstrates that the poet need not intrude himself into the poem to create a highly subjective work out of an apparently objective presentation. Overt commentary would not enhance the poem. Tanka poetry is like a snapshot — messing around with special effects in Photoshop may make for an interesting presentation but does not increase the value of the underlying image. The same is true of tanka; in such a small form it is essential that the poet

29 Take Five

begin with strong material and use the literary tools which serve it best. At the other extreme are minimalist tanka. Although it is difficult when working with less than seventeen syllables, minimalist tanka can show the characteristic features we expect in more full-bodied tanka. The following minimalist tanka by Jim Kacian, well-known editor of the Red Moon haiku anthology series, is not a haiku.

suddenly sunglint sparrows suddenly gone

Jim Kacian

The rhythm, repetition, and pentafid structure is clearly tanka, albeit tanka stripped down to its most minimal form. There are other examples of minimalist tanka in the anthology.

not speaking to each other

the cherry tree still blossoms

David Gross

30 Best Contemporary Tanka

Gross has inserted a line break instead of a punctuation mark to create the caesura, another manipulation of the poetic space common in English but absent from the Japanese. English grammar is more dependent on word order and punctuation; thus creative use of the visual space is needed to achieve the same degree of flexibility as in Japanese. The majority of the poems in Take Five fall somewhere between the full-bodied sanj"ichi and the minimalist tanka. Most tanka published in English fall somewhere in the range of seventeen to twenty-six syllables. In each case the poet uses as many words as necessary to convey the message; judicious use of word choice and image gives tanka its expressive power and suppleness.

still held by the sound of a shakuhachi flute I walk out into the wind with holes in my bones

Peter Yovu

Yovu's tanka won first place in the Saigyo Awards for 2008; there is no doubt why. The striking imagery is nearly impossible to explain but keenly felt; Yovu has succeeded in capturing a highly subjective moment with concrete language that borders on the surreal.

31 Take Five

in foster care I never wept just silently bore my fate like a parcel too heavy to carry

Aurora Antonovic

Editor Pamela A. Babusci says, "This tanka is flawless in its construction and depth of meaning. The reader can feel the profound sadness of a child in foster care and how her pain, although overwhelming, must be kept a secret. She carries this burden in her heart, abandonment of her soul, in solitude, in the recesses of her days and nights." In Japan, anything would be accepted as tanka as long as it adhered to the sanj"ichi format, but this is not the case in English. Subject and treatment matter, which in turn gives rise to the concept of 'tanka spirit' as the defining principle of tanka. Never adequately explained, 'tanka spirit' is perhaps defined by what it leaves out (war, politics, crime) rather than by what it includes (love, nature, personal life). That makes John Stevenson's poem rare and admirable:

the unknown man who stared down the tanks— we love him and also the one who pulled him aside

32 Best Contemporary Tanka

The photograph that inspired this poem is known the world over, yet the man's identity and his fate are both unknown. Stevenson assumes that concerned bystanders pulled him away, but other people think he was grabbed by Chinese security forces and executed. Stevenson has succeeded in summing up the complicated hopes and fears this anonymous act of courage symbolizes for all of us. A more literary treatment would not do justice to the moment.

hot august an open fire hydrant flushes out the whole under-ten neighborhood

Art Stein

Poems don't need to treat epic subjects to benefit from an unembellished style. The judicious choice of words and image is everything. In Stein's poem twenty syllables is sufficient to conjure a street full of spraying water and shrieking children. He could have laden it with color and adjective, but it was not necessary.

in the deep silence of scorching midday heat, my mother's spine remembers our wartime defeat

Mariko Kitakubo

33 Take Five

Although there was no conscious decision on the part of the editorial team, the selections in Take Five exhibit a bias against tanka that imitate classical Japanese tanka and insulate against the hard realities of the modern world. The rule of good taste that governed the medieval classics excluded war, natural disasters and crime, but everything is a legitimate topic for contemporary tanka.

It may be that dying is a little like leaving Venice: all this confusion and worry about catching a train that is only going to Bologna.

Jim Moore

In the end, all the fuss about contemporary tanka in English may only be confusion and worry about a train that is "only going to Bologna," but the ride is worth the price of the ticket.

M. Kei Editor-in-chief Take Five : Best Contemporary Tanka Perryville, Maryland, USA

34 Take Five

Best Contemporary Tanka

Individual Tanka

Hortensia Anderson

his parting words as the screen door slams barely an echo; listening to the waves I slice a nectarine

Susan Antolin

the details of his lousy day over dinner I offer him a knife

39 Take Five

Aurora Antonovic

over the river a gull spreads its shadow . . . I re-read the notice from the doctor's office

in Korea with a new love for the first time his fingers clumsy with the chopsticks

she drinks her coffee cold and bitter a wince of displeasure the wrench of her mouth as she says affair

how tenderly he delivers the eulogy and kisses the forehead of the wife he cheated on

40 Best Contemporary Tanka

those years I spent always hungry, always tired no place to call my own now, a full plate yet still this emptiness

after the argument he draws her bath the water too warm the rose petals artificial

in foster care I never wept just silently bore my fate like a parcel too heavy to carry

41 Take Five an'ya

in forward flight between its wingspan, an owl's heart-shaped face . . . small things that go unnoticed until they come straight at you

sidewalk café my lunch date tosses bread to the sparrows . . . does he not know I would eat crumbs right out of his hand

old memories like tangled fish hooks impossible to pick up only one without all the others

42 Best Contemporary Tanka

that final spring we were together flying our kite—until you let loose the string and heart from soul divided

the old tire swing over a South Dakota pond taking what's left of the girl-child in me deep into its secret world

43 Take Five

Harue Aoki

chichi yukishi ano natsu no goto kaku-kaku to sarusuberi saku niwa no shizukesa

as in that summer my father left this world, the red crepe-myrtle in full bloom— how silent our garden

saki-somuru niwa no kobai wa chichi no ume aogeru ware wa itsumo osanashi

my late father's old plum-tree in bloom in the garden— looking up at it, always feel I'm a daughter

44 Best Contemporary Tanka

Megan Arkenberg

october morning at the library checkout the woman before me has emptied the shelves on dying

seashells left by the tide . . . wishing you were gone so I could forgive you

45 Take Five

Pamela A. Babusci

rising with the morning star & he has vanished i pour coffee into a chipped cup

my big sister pushing me around in the doll stroller . . . apricot wind in our hair

how elegant my mother's silhouette staring out the spring window that day knowing she was pregnant with me

never learning Italian because my parents were discriminated against now, i listen to Puccini & weep

46 Best Contemporary Tanka

childhood memories— fighting with my two sisters over who will lick the beaters, bowl & wooden spoon

plucking out another gray hair . . . i sign up for inner-goddess dancing

who will visit me when i am old & nobody remembers my name not even me

47 Take Five

Dave Bacharach

surprised that I hear my doom so easily how young he looks the oncologist

last night I saw my shadow move across the moon now this fondness for dirt, stones, bits of wood . . .

driving away from the hospital visit I guess it's not so bad to die in battle

48 Best Contemporary Tanka

washing down my vitamin pill with whiskey— I've come to accept a self of opposites

a bluebird house where her son's ashes lie buried he liked little things the color of the sky

49 Take Five

Marty Baird

river's edge i wait for your return always afraid that you will come and go like other people in my life

Jon Baldwin

drunk again I ring you back just to hang up . . . how long our silence has lasted

50 Best Contemporary Tanka

Collin Barber

a sudden hailstorm— we listen to it obliterate whatever it was we were fighting about

driving for miles with nothing to say she waits until my favorite song to start a fight

sunlight fills the windowpane as if I needed another excuse to hate my job

51 Take Five

John Barlow

alone by choice this autumn evening a grebe arcs across the reservoir the sunset in its wake

sitting alone in the seaside café my apple pie arrives with an extra squirt of imitation cream

she asks me about my beliefs . . . a black crow shakes the rain from leaf to leaf

52 Best Contemporary Tanka

Frederick Bassett

Something harsh now plows so deep on your face I must look away to remember its beauty.

53 Take Five

Roberta Beary

after the fire dies you sweep the ashes into my dustpan which of us i wonder will be the first to go

Janick Belleau

Good Friday black cat crossing the boulevard in a great hurry preparing to go shopping for my big fat gay wedding

54 Best Contemporary Tanka

Cathy Drinkwater Better

growing my hair long again in my fifty-sixth year all the summers of my youth flood back inch by inch, and splashed with gray

love poems on yellowed pages long forgotten— why are we always so surprised when promises are broken?

word of your illness— the fallen leaves so unexpected this late summer day which dawned like all the rest

55 Take Five

Randy Brooks

pebbles on the window screen a boy I don't know whispers my daughter's name

56 Best Contemporary Tanka

Marjorie Buettner

even though I know these stars are dead light faintly shining I throw them my wishes year after year

the path they say you do not take will haunt you these blue shadows of winter lead right up to my door

putting away the silverware—suddenly I am caught— upside down in a world mercurial and floating

57 Take Five

Owen Bullock

autumn walk a man winks at me as if we're part of a secret brotherhood

58 Best Contemporary Tanka

David Caruso

That dented tea kettle I donate to Purple Heart— What wounded war vet will see what I don't want?

AA meeting the faint scent of club soda my father's kiss goodnight

59 Take Five

James Chessing

my teenage son tells me I'm no different than my stepfather our morning run begins and ends in darkness

Bell Gale Chevigny

the fact that I am in a wheelchair doesn't mean that you can't complain to me about your corns

60 Best Contemporary Tanka

Margaret Chula

at the altar of the hundred-armed Kannon the priest hands me a Satsuma orange left for the Buddha

I felt your presence on the cross-country flight by the time we landed you had crossed over to the other side

now in his sixties the sculptor carves a face of his dead father without a mouth— he was a man of few words

cleaning out Mother's lingerie drawer the tears in her stockings sewn up so tightly— all my unanswered questions

61 Take Five

Tom Clausen

blowing across the plowed field a sheet of newspaper with who knows what kind of news

having worn out yet another confidant I turn again to the bank along the tanka river

without the guard sauntering from room to room I'd never even think of what someone might do to a painting of all things

scattering salt on the icy steps I step back with a rare sense of doing something useful

62 Best Contemporary Tanka

my wife spends the day taking my faults apart, letting me know in full color and then out of the blue she wants to kiss

full of rain the river races along past everything here— I can't shake this sense I'm living on borrowed time

asked to arrange the flowers in a vase I put them in any which way— so glad there are some things which can’t go wrong

63 Take Five

Serban Codrin

Tocmai spulber! vântul p!p!diile peste coclauri— precum scrie în cartea fiec!rei semin"ii

The wind scatters the dandelions over the steppe region— as it is written in every people's book

64 Best Contemporary Tanka

Norman Darlington

down the bakery a sweet young thing braids challah my hands remember better than these fading eyes the velvet of your tresses

65 Take Five

Janet Lynn Davis

the assortment of birthday cards he gives me, one from each side of his personality

eighty-one, my father building new closet shelves, once more rearranging the deepening layers

a girl whose dolls were all neatly clothed and coifed . . . not knowing then that I'd have no children

66 Best Contemporary Tanka

I tell him it's his anniversary he tells me it's mine too—the comfort in our seeming nonchalance

never thought a life could grow to be this unadorned, my daily pot of oatmeal steaming on the stove

the time we spend choosing our new front door as if nothing else much matters but entrances and exits

67 Take Five

Cherie Hunter Day

in a crowded café I wonder what I would say to the stranger at the corner table if he turned out to be you

68 Best Contemporary Tanka

Andrew Detheridge

rush hour: two men, black from the forge watch as I jog past on the other side of the road on the other side of the universe

69 Take Five

Melissa Dixon

summer sunshine spilling into my room what can I do but stretch out like an artist's model?

70 Best Contemporary Tanka

Jim Doss

it just goes on and on this honey-do list— a cue ball that never strikes its target

winter afternoon basketball rims still netless on my old playground the perfect shot a silent swish

71 Take Five

Curtis Dunlap

the moon receding 3.8 centimeters a year how else to explain this longing for you

72 Best Contemporary Tanka

Jeanne Emrich

nursing home visit— it dawns on me I could die on someone's lunch break

long winter hours . . . in my parents' absence I feel the "his" and "hers" slip away from the humidor, the sewing machine

autumn in Paris . . . after leaving the bookstore loved by Hemingway i write a poem on a leaf for the river to read

73 Take Five

Margarita Engle

strawberry field a woman walks the rows her wide hat a lampshade between sun and earth

ranchland the packhorse bucks and bolts leaving a trail of startled cowboys

between journeys the island becomes an idea instead of a place with flying fish and poets

74 Best Contemporary Tanka

Michael Evans

how sad that when you call late at night the happiness you left me for is never in your voice

last night dark birds pecked the edges of my dreams all day I keep looking at the unplugged phone

75 Take Five

Amelia Fielden

holding him through all the hospice nights thinking you won't be here to love me when I'm dying

no matter if I never take another lover— I have your imprint the children and the sea

his blond hair against the sofa's blue velvet . . . remembering how I did not kiss him

76 Best Contemporary Tanka

red umbrellas under a blizzard of blossoms— the Japan we know from picture postcards

spray rises from the whitehorse manes of racing waves, ten cargo boats are anchored on the Tasman horizon

77 Take Five

Trish Fong

just when I think you have forgotten about me at the front door two punnets of strawberries and a smiley face post-it

Sylvia Forges-Ryan

autumn afternoon we keep our distance in dappled light talking about the life we haven't shared

78 Best Contemporary Tanka

Stanford M. Forrester

finding my father’s chess set in the attic we stopped playing when i started winning

79 Take Five

Bernard Gadd

if my ashes are dug in around a birch will leaves sprout in sets of five?

80 Best Contemporary Tanka

Linda Galloway

they painted my daughter's nails pink the day she died— cherry blossoms

glass chimneys amid the Auschwitz smoke I watch sparks of light flash as each soul expires

81 Take Five

Denis M. Garrison

the moan of a passing train at last I’ve learned not to answer just because my name is called

a flock of gulls salts the stubbled field from far away our visitors in the sticks, driven by storms at sea

and when the sand runs out? the stillness of the hourglass and I are one

82 Best Contemporary Tanka

some nights all I can do is lean against the old wall and know that stone is cold

I am still here working my sliver of earth— the oath I swore, barefoot on the river stones, to whispering cottonwoods

83 Take Five

Beverley George

always elusive the paper-kisses aunt white cat white bedspread white cyclamen at her door

at your wake I put each ghost to bed. . . then pour your last ounce of whisky, share every joke with you

how much time and care we give to passing things . . . navy-blue beads from mother's evening bag loose in the dress-up box

84 Best Contemporary Tanka

out there in this war-torn world people who collect stamps, press flowers gather shells at daybreak

it seems you wished to make our liaison known— why else would you leave your red silk pyjama cord tied to the ceiling fan

85 Take Five

Sanford Goldstein

ah, a return to that long-ago Zen world: naked on bony knees, I cleanser my way through green bathroom tiles

called upstairs by her stern-voiced father, and the girl obeyed— my Japanese friend misses that nuance in the film

in this squalid hole-in-the-wall rented for a day, an inch of sky enough through this dirty window

rare is it for me to think of my father in any kind way— he sat in his favorite chair as if the trap of age had sprung

86 Best Contemporary Tanka

all I saw was the hole in my kid's sock when she performed

only a one sentence rebuke to my kid and all day the lousy after-taste

in this narrow hospital room my wife stares at the falling rain

87 Take Five

Tom Gomes

a moon in every puddle past the bus stop her tongue over her teeth to hide those that are uneven

M. L. Grace

with flowers— in half light I stand outside your door neither fully open nor fully closed

88 Best Contemporary Tanka

Andrea Grillo

night of shooting stars a naked beach and foaming waves oh to be so seductive

89 Take Five

David Gross

not speaking to each other

the cherry tree still blossoms

William Hart

a rooster on a leg string stands at the end of his world daring traffic— even a chicken feels the pinch of a tethered life

90 Best Contemporary Tanka

M. L. Harvey

the White Out doesn't quite match the paper . . . all my life this pressure to blend in with the crowd

he comes home from the barbershop head shaven with thirty years between us this stranger I have married

narrow joys of the barnyard dog chained in place . . . at some small kindness I, too, lift my eyes

91 Take Five

C. W. Hawes

blood-soaked the bodies littering the marketplace this hot afternoon one melon and a small child not hit by flying shrapnel

Peggy Heinrich

When did I cross the border from Alice in Wonderland into the world of Miss Havisham?

92 Best Contemporary Tanka

Lorne Henry

a cool night I sit on the verandah in the dark on the radio quartet for the end of time

93 Take Five

William J. Higginson

in growing light I read old waka of autumn dusk the plane six miles over freezing Siberia

94 Best Contemporary Tanka ruth holzer

the farther away I get from the hospital the better I feel— until I remember you're still there

Elizabeth Howard

high school reunion old strangers I've never seen before all asking the same question— do you know who I am?

95 Take Five

Roger Jones

a janitor squeezes filthy water from a cotton-string mop as I wait for my late bus in a big city station

my wife comes across an old photo of me and a long-ago girlfriend in whose face the dog has left one perfect bite mark

96 Best Contemporary Tanka

Jim Kacian

suddenly sunglint sparrows suddenly gone

97 Take Five

Kirsty Karkow

waking to bleak days of mud I wish to be a white lotus

I grumble about winter weddings— weather rough fingernails that snag on unfamiliar stockings

a wisp of smoke from still warm ashes will I know anything, be anything other than vague memory?

here on a knoll in the fields of spring I'll lay it down . . . and for a while be rid of a mind that never rests

98 Best Contemporary Tanka

as vague as life seems today it could happen that I might be kidnapped by this late evening mist

if you thought you saw the grim reaper hooded in black it was only me pausing among your rainwet roses

dark of night moonless, starless in a steady rain she walks a black dog toward an empty house

99 Take Five

M. Kei

first day of the year— hanging a calendar with pictures of places I'll never go

After his strokes I did not go and see my father. The strike of his hand against my child face would not allow it.

she mentions cherry blossoms as if that was all that needed to be said

one spot of tar I didn't remove a tattoo of winter work on my skin

100 Best Contemporary Tanka

I wanted to argue but the sandpaper of his jaw was more than my lips could resist

raising the hatch just in time to catch a faceful of spray and an earful of Frank Sinatra

in the end, it comes down to the inadequacy of poets . . . tiny blue flowers unnoticed in the grass

broken shells washed onto a muddy beach by cold waves— I see this in the eyes of everyone I meet

101 Take Five

Susan Lee Kerr

one minute none then five at once the slow flutter of beech leaves it will be like this when you go

102 Best Contemporary Tanka

Michael Ketchek

hot pants, black bra and tattoos . . . the third time she walks by, I watch the eyes following her

love is easy I said she laughed grabbed and held me til she proved love is hard

after reading Whitman for the first time I close my eyes even the cracks in the sidewalk too beautiful to bear

June in Kodiak without a bit of night twilight becomes the dawn we switch from whiskey to coffee

103 Take Five

Larry Kimmel

touch . . . touch . . . the skipping stone hits the farther bank . . . suddenly I am old and understand nothing

this creek torrential in spring a trickle now all the things in me that wanted voice

this past August, all at once, the abuse of a decade condensed into a bullet— there's a house for sale in our neighborhood

104 Best Contemporary Tanka

family in bed and term papers graded — he steps, without hope, into the snowy night to see her bedroom window lit

the sound of the siren is as red as your lips closing over the blind white of the hard boiled egg

105 Take Five

Mariko Kitakubo

as if I am repairing my feelings a bit at a time I paint my nails slowly and carefully

in the deep silence of scorching midday heat, my mother's spine remembers our wartime defeat

on a far-off sandhill you shade your eyes— I want to be that small object in your gaze

I have no way of being really sure about things, yet my nails are growing so confidently

106 Best Contemporary Tanka

maybe it's better not to know the depth of her wounds— tranquilly I asked "how many sugar lumps"

how small I really am here between a potato field and the wide sky

like clouds vanishing from a puddle that morning my father silently disappeared

107 Take Five

Kathy Kituai

in the end despite the winter you push through each layer of ice, unfurl into a man

still honouring traditional Bundi steps how they dance bare hipped loose grass skirts oiled breasts cloistered in bras

every night I raise to my mouth your tea bowl whose idea was it to glaze it with the moon

108 Best Contemporary Tanka

Deborah P Kolodji

slow and shaky, she stubbornly shuffles without assistance— the walker we gave her still in the box

Robert Kusch

this rope bridge over a fast-flowing stream and my unsteady balance—knowing myself better than ever

109 Take Five

Lynne Leach

my mariner son home from sea full of tall tales but hungry for him I crack a smooth shell to scramble a golden egg

puddles full of sky on my path crowns of oak tress as usual I'm picking my way through an upside-down world

110 Best Contemporary Tanka

Gary LeBel

Three hundred and eleven years of experience lay in the ward's four beds but the sounds of leaves striking glass behind the curtains was all I could hear.

On a busy street corner the same old man sits day upon day as if waiting to hear the next name Robespierre will say.

In fresh June skies before the summer-people came that quietness day and night of an un-struck bell.

Mulling it over and over, I talk to myself and just like a real conversation I don't agree with my answer.

111 Take Five

Angela Leuck

confusing the word "rheumatic" I tell my school chums my mother's in the hospital with "romantic fever"

pink sweetheart roses left on the bench I too could learn to be casual about love

never knowing how exquisite a wrist bone could be until he circles mine with his long, slender fingers

learning to appreciate its prickly beauty— the cactus I bought when my son became a rebellious teen

112 Best Contemporary Tanka

Darrel Lindsey

a long letter found in my front yard some lines in it that would've caused me to toss it away, too

113 Take Five

Bob Lucky

another summer living out of suitcases— my son gets my old room with all its baggage

on my own in the night market I haggle over the price of dried fish just for the conversation

mid-sentence she wanders off talking to herself— it doesn't really matter but it was my sentence

sleeping alone disorients me— I roll over and fall into your absence

114 Best Contemporary Tanka

seven million souls knocking about this city— down by the lake I see everyone I know trying to be alone too

I like to think despite the evidence you love me— the slam of the door echoes in the empty room

In Hanoi on mirror-makers' street I reflect there's less of me than meets the eye

115 Take Five

Jeanne Lupton

61st Christmas an Irish tenor's love song makes me cry not that I was never loved but I did not care for love

116 Best Contemporary Tanka

Laura Maffei

this friend who made out with the same boy in college— when exactly did we start discussing colonoscopies?

117 Take Five

Carole MacRury

pure linen from the old country . . . this tea towel that never dried a dish nor wiped a tear

she watches the tide swell and retreat under a full moon feels the first flutter from inside her womb

my virginity long gone to this old man I pass on the street we talk about yesterday and the coming of spring

118 Best Contemporary Tanka

full of stealth your footsteps late at night I wake not to sound but to the scent of where you've been

after 40 years my old spice guy switches to a new scent in the year of the mouse I decide to wear more red

119 Take Five

Mary Mageau

the one night stand when two strangers made a perfect connection— why did this become our parting gift?

120 Best Contemporary Tanka

A. A. Marcoff

I am I am not I am as I walk in & out of mist

Thelma Mariano

chilly day— I pore through a book of exotic flowers so many times I've settled for less than the real thing

121 Take Five

Francis Masat

dinner cruise a pelican glides through the Key West sunset tourists watch two men kissing

across the valley - thunder - the sound the sound the sound

3 AM – still listening to the rhythm of his pump— by morning I'll be an orphan

122 Best Contemporary Tanka

Karen McClintock

All her days in one house, living with cats and ivy— and the memory of her fiancé, who died young.

123 Take Five

Michael McClintock

wanting to go into my room and be alone, yet leaving the door open a crack

like butterflies going somewhere at dusk my last years on earth whirling over fence-rails

the new loft where I meant to write— already I know the view's too splendid to suffer much poetry

the faint moisture on your upper lip unbuttoning the last button on your blouse

124 Best Contemporary Tanka

I've nothing left when the work day ends boarding a bus in my own little cloud of stale aftershave

the bust of Antony— handsome, assured, a knowledge of love in the fulness of the lips that cost him the war

a man and boy arguing as they load stone onto a donkey's back, the pyramids behind them rising tall in the thistles

I lived and slept for twenty-five years in this crummy room; now my fortunes have changed and everything surprises me

125 Take Five

Tyrone McDonald

slowly unfolding an old love letter if only I treated her with such care

126 Best Contemporary Tanka

Jo McInerney

smiling wedding photographs the girl resembles someone I once knew

Dorothy McLaughlin

gray winter morning in the cardiologist's waiting room what a heartbeat might do to the rest of my life

127 Take Five

Paul Mercken

stoffig door de klim zingen voor de zon die rijst Nippons monniken vreemder zaken zag men hier op die bergtop Sinaï

dusty from the climb they chant to the rising sun the monks from Japan stranger things have happened here on top of Mt. Sinai

128 Best Contemporary Tanka

Annette Mineo

watching streams of white sails scud along the bay I think of the men so many men who have given up women for this

as the young humpback lies on the beach dying all over the island lilacs break open

129 Take Five

Vasile Moldovan

Funeral ceremony— So much silence between knells . . . only the blind man's stick caning the road's stones

Mike Montreuil

across the street she shovels snow from the driveway exactly the same way her late husband did

130 Best Contemporary Tanka

Jim Moore

It may be that dying is a little like leaving Venice: all this confusion and worry about catching a train that is only going to Bologna

131 Take Five

June Moreau

What's on the other side of the sky, Coyote? Open the white door of silence and take me there . . .

132 Best Contemporary Tanka

Joan Murphy

fresh flowers . . . at the game her empty chair already filled by someone else

their ashes next to each other in separate urns similar to how they spent their lives

133 Take Five

H. Gene Murtha

my finger traces the edge of her lips around the curve a new adventure

Peter Newton

my father asleep in his Lay-Z-Boy growing more and more Zen-like his open palms accepting everything

134 Best Contemporary Tanka

Linda Papanicolaou

at the guardrail of a scenic overlook I brace myself wishing for the wings of a red tailed hawk

135 Take Five

Patrick M. Pilarski

false spring— the homeless man comes one more time through the bookstore doors

136 Best Contemporary Tanka

Jack Prewitt

unabashed he takes a public bath. . . then again if I was handsome as a rainbow lorikeet. . .

I know the odds against you loving me but just in case each day I practice walking on my hands

a bed of roses at different stages of dying what is love called when it has withered?

serelemar cliffs— I clean out the cave comb my beard forty years late but she’ll have her reasons

137 Take Five

Patricia Prime

at Bethall’s Beach we watch as hailstones fall on water transparent as tissue melting back to nothing

each moment swept on a current of everyday spent like loose change gathering in a coat pocket

earth hour exploring the house at midnight one room's white light from a street lamp

the time of spending beyond my means is over— I tighten my pursestrings except in the bookshop

138 Best Contemporary Tanka

everywhere Ashbery's poems so sensitive I feel I bruise the pages with my clumsy thoughts

a passenger liner over two thousand aboard berths in the harbour a thousand rooms lit up this Guy Fawke’s Night

in her lounge we talk of travel, books and poetry, and all the while that sense that things are changing

139 Take Five

Carol Purington

counting ladybugs instead of syllables for a change I find nothing sad to say about the universe

after heavy rain enough puddles on my path to flash back at me all the faces I might choose to wear today

140 Best Contemporary Tanka

John Quinnett

on the porch snapping green beans for supper . . . granny's gnarled hands and swollen knuckles

141 Take Five

Claudia Coutu Radmore

i would like to polish you with my hair leave strands on your body to become part of you like thistles caught in bark

142 Best Contemporary Tanka

David Rice

narrow layers of an ancient lakebed visible on the sheer rock wall I finger-walk back through time

143 Take Five

Andrew Riutta

$795.00 due by tomorrow. Everywhere, all at once, the wind.

Small bits of gravel mixed with blood and dirt. It can be difficult for a man to express how much he loves his son.

A fifth of rum and the scent of wood smoke. I may be a father and a husband, but tonight I'm just a man.

Like Buddhist monks we chopped wood that afternoon with little to say . . . until an arch in your back told me you were pregnant.

144 Best Contemporary Tanka

Such a long winter. Stretched with water, this barley soup has filled the entire house with the scent of steam.

This night, more than others, I'm tempted to scratch my back on that rusty nail.

Just by sewing a button on my shirt, Grandma has made my Sunday's best good enough for God.

145 Take Five

Barbara Robidoux

I could tell from the look in her eyes the cancer had spread from her lungs to her liver and into both our lives

146 Best Contemporary Tanka

James Rohrer

my ancestors posed in their Sunday best— in their eyes the glint of disappointment as if they knew me

147 Take Five

Alexis Rotella

Department store dressing room— I close the curtain on my old mother's eyes.

These persimmons, I tell the college kid, are ripe when they feel like your girlfriend's breasts— his mother's look of shock.

our white cat gone seven years and still her light in every room

148 Best Contemporary Tanka

Furniture store window— reading in a lounge chair a woman with red lips wearing white shorts with legs as long as a day.

Old man— first he asks to die, then for a ham sandwich.

149 Take Five

Miriam Sagan

even after all these years sitting zazen— the monk still casts a shadow on the paper screen

Fujiko Sato

I rewind a videotape again and again to prevent a man who is going to leave from leaving

150 Best Contemporary Tanka

Grant D. Savage

all this white but Valentine's day past I lean on my shovel and I wish my heart wasn't working so hard

rushing past the paving crew . . . what's it like to be young and fit and hot as these muscled workmen

151 Take Five

Philip Schofield

the mist on Monet's pond melts the ridges to inky smears

152 Best Contemporary Tanka

Billy Simms

ashes my grandfather's life packed in an urn my father and I have nothing to say

153 Take Five

Guy Simser

agnostic, I stand facing up to heritage on a windswept spine headstones inclined to the ancestral kirk

holding on to her antique button hook seeping warmth that mottled hand guiding my mahjong tile

high-school reunion yes, after fifty years each of us has become what we were

154 Best Contemporary Tanka

Paul Smith

thoughtless that's what you called me again and again I wonder what you'd say now as weekly I tend your grave

155 Take Five

John Soules

not realizing how much we have aged I wander the supermarket looking for someone wearing your coat

156 Best Contemporary Tanka

Art Stein

ice floes move imperceptibly down the river clusters of shore birds early spring tourists

hot august an open fire hyrdrant flushes out the whole under-ten neighbourhood

157 Take Five

John Stevenson

thirty years on the job I've become something of an expert on what's unimportant

the unknown man who stared down the tanks— we love him and also the one who pulled him aside

158 Best Contemporary Tanka

Richard Stevenson

She's not in the mood— though the day lilies' orange megaphones announce their readiness to anything with six legs

ash in the pipe— grass a deeper green in the shade; the retriever appraises me with his one good eye

as if to say my turf, my nest: hawk's insistent cry reeled off at each and every tree

I don't know what's worse the threat of snow banking in the sky or the drift of white paper covering my desk

159 Take Five

Maria Steyn

energy distilled from weaverbirds courting among river reeds— bright splashes of yellow to infuse my veins

160 Best Contemporary Tanka

John Stone

coroner's wagon a murder of crows watches him depart all he ever said to me was get off my lawn

161 Take Five

André Surridge

the old woman with a walking stick bent over her daughter's grave like a question mark

today the words don't come easily I prise them from the rock face of an ancient mountain

sometimes you can have too much of a good thing a plum branch breaks under its own weight

summer wind through tall grasses the sway of wildflowers & a woman's hips

162 Best Contemporary Tanka

George Swede

Mother has sent a photo of her facelift— behind her an ancient French cathedral covered with scaffolding

163 Take Five

Noriko Tanaka

oh, fall hard September rain, like a sharpened scalpel slashing into my flesh

I gazed at the transience of a match burning out as if it were a human life

portrait of the everyday: on my table one apple stabbed with a knife

164 Best Contemporary Tanka

the noodle man has turned off his cooker— in front of the shop sits an old cat licking its lips

this is a love like the quivering of water when someone has thrown a silver coin to the river bottom

after grandmother had passed away there was still a single persimmon hanging in the moonlight

165 Take Five

Frans Terryn

All Soul's Day. A late butterfly comes down on your tombstone; I wonder if loneliness can be felt in your world too.

166 Best Contemporary Tanka

Carolyn Thomas

summer heat unlike me this white Buddha on the shopkeeper's shelf shows no dust

Marc Thompson

riding a bus through the Oklahoma heat an old woman tells everything that matters to someone else's son

167 Take Five

Tony A. Thompson

summer thunderstorm the lightning nearer each word spoken more brutal than the last

168 Best Contemporary Tanka

Julie Thorndyke

in the summer night a possum walks the fence I try to keep the peace between my lanky sons

I fold your shirt empty your trouser pockets of coins, cryptic words on crumpled paper, the last note you ever wrote yourself

169 Take Five

Kozue Uzawa

one snail found in the morning slowly and gently I become happy and kind to everyone

I am the only oriental woman prof in this university placed at the bottom of the ladder year after year

170 Best Contemporary Tanka

Geert Verbeke

I spill some wine so that I can touch you unnoticed I thought until dad asks me grinning if you are my sweetheart

171 Take Five

Ella Wagemakers

after two days at the orphanage I died then lived through five more lives

sewing a button onto an old shirt all this time the persistent need to make ends meet

my husband of fifty-six years. . . the women still turn their heads and ignore me

by tomorrow someone will have asked me how my day went— my chemotherapy session and the divorce papers

172 Best Contemporary Tanka

Linda Jeannette Ward

after the move granpap pulls on the boots he toiled in each day soil from the farm still trapped in creased leather

turned twenty last month sixty the week after— in the curtain's sheer lining just a single flash of a firefly

in the dark recesses of a stranger's car the edge of his finger slides against mine as he lights my cigarette

173 Take Five

Michael Dylan Welch

a week after my coworker's suicide the sculpture on her desk collapses—magnetic paper clips that held nothing together

174 Best Contemporary Tanka

Liam Wilkinson

you showed me yours, I showed you mine— our first attempts at haiku

washing it down, I know this tablet won't shift the heartache I've had since you left

the simplicity she brings to our lives— she leaves the ketchup headstanding in the cupboard

alone again at the market café I make a wish on a Dayglo star

175 Take Five robert d. wilson

she looks at me through a veil of fruit . . . i could never be a buddha sweating

I rode through the bowels of the beast today on a tricycle juggling coconuts

176 Best Contemporary Tanka

Jeffrey Woodward

the road to you is difficult and far and if I strive ten thousand days and more I will not have you while I live

177 Take Five

An Xiao

What can you teach me, old couple, that I have not yet discovered? the sound of your bickering as I sit alone

178 Best Contemporary Tanka

Peter Yovu

still held by the sound of a shakuhachi flute I walk out into the wind with holes in my bones

I can't say if this life is a seed or a stone whatever it is it is the hardest thing I know

179 Take Five

Aya Yuhki

child's fingertips outstretched to the limit linked to the sun by a fine line

my wayward amble leads me to the Seine; i forget all else just looking at the river

brightness after his death— Takuboku's tomb on a hillside facing the sea

180 Tanka Sequences holy ground: a contrapuntal tanka string

Sanford Goldstein

Barbra, give me more of your holy ground, a sermon I want to hear for the remainder of my life

holy ground there was in my twelfth or thirteenth year, on my pedaled bike in the wind, endless possibilities whirling

when was it that holy ground was filled with pits, ruts? my disenchantment saddled to a world gone berserk?

yes, I can look out on a green wind-wave over these fields of rice, and still in the Japanese news mercury-loaded fish in school lunches

!

183 Take Five

my intellectual friend tells me today's barbaric episodes existed in our childhood: poverty put blinders over our eyes, heaven was the smell of Jewish rye

long long I sat in synagogues hurrying over Hebrew prayers, and still the light that never was failed to batter my heart

that reporter overwhelmed in his search for religion in the news, his faith sinking when a small church gave it a defrocked priest's name

men once boys found a holy ground existed behind locked doors, found their priest had rosaries that hung down down

I get no e-mails from relatives, friends, poets bemoaning this world, nature goes on with its upheavals and red roses are still for tables

184 Best Contemporary Tanka always I felt, Voltaire, your telling me to keep that small plot intact was right, and still, why is it even a Basho bush is choked with China's yellow sand? the senility of this old-age fart speaks out, and I see erosion not only in after-shocks long ago in a tent at summer camp under pin-point stars, the sound of taps stirred me to blot out intimate connections unable to hold it, I pull down my pants to squat on the narrow road, rice plants restless too in this fierce morning wind quiet even the small stones on my hour-long morning walk, sweat cascading over tossed butts, over half-eaten watermelon rinds !

185 Take Five

on this sixty-second Hiroshima memorial day my friend and I in silence, prayers for the holiest place of man-made destruction

as if the sermon consisted of sounds fluttering toward stained glass, at the downstairs coffee and cakes not a word about Moses on the mount

that grandfather, exorcising the three-year-old's inner demons, chokes her blood-streaked throat, the mother nude, his crone a clothed niche

a moment of miracle getting through the Japanese of today's article, a music in the sounds of Chinese characters I knew

sometimes the driver of a car along this country road waves at my own salute, sometimes working women in the fields stop to ask about my walking hat

186 Best Contemporary Tanka a Fitzgerald disenchantment these days, and not once did I berserk Paris, not once did I cast woes into wine she left thirty-five years ago, left for good, and sometimes that photo of my kids after the cremation once Negro spirituals in my tiled Japanese bath in the States, memories of that lonesome road, memories of that chariot descending my granddaughter in New York helping Jews for Jesus, many, she tells me, were angry, once a nice young man asked something at the luncheon greeting a home-stay girl from Thailand, young foreigners in fluent Japanese, one fingering a Beethoven sonata !

187 Take Five

as if all that's needed to end this long village day, the tv news, and still even the violence is not a surprise, even the scams lose their twist

I rang those bear bells until my left-hand fingers got sore, and now I walk through, bells a whisper on my belt loop

already a year and a half of dizziness, no somewhere-over-the-rainbow, no stoppage of twists, turns

no longer my hero Mr. Smith confronting the Washington big-wigs, and still that naive innocence keeps his memory sublime

recalling your line— to cease upon the midnight with no pain— that, too, precious Keats, remains with me as holy ground

188 Best Contemporary Tanka no shortage of multiple disenchantments in various worlds, and the everywhere-bleak somehow falls into five lines down always along these bumpy village roads, bent-backed old women pushing loaded strollers carrying vegetables to their farmhouse kitchens the guest goes out to our back porch for a smoke; I watch and the air turns blue, his face a rainbow escape through the mountain coffee shop window, the solidity of a static landscape where colors fuse into tanka dreams those young kids who burned that homeless Japanese as garbage, I imagine him spasmodic searching for pure water !

189 Take Five

we visit the mountain coffee shop not seen for a long time, and together my friend and I study over a Dutch blend

I do not seek out holy places in this Japanese world, I live my day-to-day, I frequent a space for no-thought

when annoyance bursts through me and often, I think of endings and not all are for short stories

those tears of that Japanese who teaches dancing, the cold I first thought of turned into the shoulder of a man

gone is the boy who went to swim by the sea, the lightning struck and he was taken

190 Best Contemporary Tanka bruised by life then and now, she sits huddled recalling a time she had no memories

I sit before this pile of greens on my Japanese plate and recall the Jewish delights on my mother's kitchen table a library challenge it was to straighten the piles of tumbled children's books, and leaving the part-time for home was a silent celebration go back, I tell myself, to childhood delights, and still it was there I learned the blight of the adult world over the phone the elderly soba-lady speaks in a slow rhythm, and I feel my cave of Japanese study has a small hole for light

191 Take Five a heartache or two

Pamela A. Babusci

a solitary woman knows a heartache or two . . . tossing scarlet petals into her evening bath

moonlight across pale silk sheets . . . she reads all the love poems of Pablo Neruda

night of falling stars . . . she drinks a dry martini and drifts off on a cumulus

morning mist . . . white hydrangeas drip light into her first cup of coffee

192 Best Contemporary Tanka

a long hot day flowers slowly climb the trellis . . . wrapping and unwrapping her clematis heart

another evening cooling herself on the front porch . . . scent of passion fruit on her palms

193 Take Five for Sean, a sequence

M. Kei

you'd think as old as I am, this youth desiring me would delight, but— performance anxiety

dawn on another continent; still this young man keeps me company tonight

there is nothing quite so delightful as someone eager to learn all my vices

Persian carpet, my denim leg over your bare one, my book resting against your back

his relatives don't like him, so he tells them that he's sleeping with a famous male poet twice his age

194 Best Contemporary Tanka

Singing Silence

James Rohrer

a tiny chapel in a field of snow corn stubble stretches to the gray horizon

sitting alone on the frozen pew— breathing in breathing out the silence sits with me

the north wind shakes the windows finds the cracks stirs a dead wasp as I pray

stained glass beautiful but cold— in the soft glow my every breath visible for one moment

in mosques cathedrals, Kuanyin's hall, and the soft whisper of snow on black earth silence sings the same song

195 Take Five

The Hundredth Year

Michael Thorley

our ritual I read my mother her stars she's bed bound at ninety-nine I don't need to read mine

suddenly fearing we've lost her pulse gone then it all comes back just a rehearsal

fold my glasses touch her arm to show I'm going see you tomorrow I say three times to make it true

watching her I sense another fit coming on I hold her warm hands it's me has gone cold

196 Best Contemporary Tanka

breath slow in her hundredth year she sleeps as if lying in state skin white as marble each night as I leave her room I look back storing the moments for when I look back

197 Take Five

Locket

Julie Thorndyke and Beverley George

the glass eye of the sea turtle beneath their hall table these grandparents had no trouble keeping order

a marcasite brooch in her oval trinket box and a short string of Woolworths pearls . . . the doors unlocked at night

cat's eye glasses with mid-blue frames to one side the crochet hook looping bright colours into blankets

a skein of wool wound from outstretched wrists their aching eased by gran's whispered tales of our god-fearing neighbours

198 Best Contemporary Tanka helping to dust beneath each oval doily putting back the white swan vase just so

gathering eggs from protesting chooks into a tin basin I hold the brown ones longer in my hand threading the darning needle to save her eyes as we watch the road for mum to come home

cracking almonds on the dished stone step— peacocks around her best nut bowl as remote to us as rajahs ride a cock horse on the front verandah too little and too old we were always waiting for the sound of pop's car !

199 Take Five

the oval teapot he earned for being kind— grandfather's story polished for my daughter as we clean family silver

child hands lug a misshapen bucket of coal and kindling to her small fire burning behind mica

never knowing until after she had died the sterling locket she always wore held photographs of us

200 Tanka Prose

Mason Jar

Gary LeBel

Leaving a trail of wet fields, mists moved snail-like through the colored leaves of this Mississippi morning.

All day long as we drive home from field work, I gather up the grasshoppers of passing landscapes into the Mason jar of my mind. When we stop for gas or sandwiches, I shake the jar a little, and let them all go.

For a hundred miles now his silence and mine, no need to people them with fictions.

203 Take Five

Thursday Night

Andrew Riutta

At the strip club, even the waitress pretends she likes me. She sits down. Both of us light a cigarette. "What's your name?" I lie and tell her Philip. I know my money's worth more than it was last month. She crosses her legs and leans back. "Oh," she says. Her black outfit blends in seamlessly with the darkness. She looks around and then asks me what I like to do. "Actually, I enjoy poetry." A dancer named Autumn hangs in the spotlight, leaving smudge marks up and down the brass pole. The music pounds through whatever gets in its way. The waitress pulls out a package of Wrigley's gum. "Want some?" she asks. "No thanks. It'll make my Camel taste like a Kool." "What, you're too cool for Kools?" she says. The song ends and Autumn gathers her half dozen bills. "Something like that," I say. Then a new dancer. A new song. A new view of the world.

204 Best Contemporary Tanka

The waitress twists her hair around her middle finger. "I write poetry, too," she says. "At least I used to." "Oh," I say.

2 a.m. a moth the size of a small bird the eyes on its wings staring at me

205 Take Five

All Clear

Patricia Prime

When the siren sounded it was a hop, skip and jump to the Anderson air-raid shelter that nestled in our London back garden. Dug into the ground and covered with compacted earth, it smelled of damp and stale urine. Dad was in the army fighting for “King and Country” in a place called Germany. While bombers droned overhead and searchlights lit up the night sky, we five children hunkered down with mum in the fetid air of the shelter, comforted only by the light from a paraffin lamp. Mum whiled away the hours singing in her lilting Irish voice or told stories about her childhood in Waterford—a sweet- smelling country where pigs and cows wandered the fields. She drew faces on her knees or on our fingers and played puppets with us. We fell asleep, after supper of bread and water, on wooden bunks against the wall while she nursed the baby.

With the “all clear” siren, we blinked our way into daylight. The back wall of our house was gone. A row of china cups still clung to their hooks on the dresser.

emptying slops the clang of a pail breaks the silence— in his brown suit and bowler the housing inspector

206 Best Contemporary Tanka

Three

Bob Lucky

In the village the church bell intones the hour. We arrive just in time to hear the monotonous clanging of noon noon noon noon—like a dotted line dividing morning from the rest of the day. After a long and leisurely lunch, we check into a pensione and go out to explore. The clock strikes three three three. It is inexplicably sad, like a dirge: three three three. Stopping in a café, we have a brandy we don’t need, and then several espressos, as we stare at the remainder of the afternoon.

around the steeple the clamor of bats gathering dusk when I touch you you look at your watch

207 Take Five

The Girl from Shanghai

Jeffrey Woodward

gazing intently at the many pointed rays of these starry emblems no less than the sown heavens the chicory in bloom

That is where I first observed Mei Lin, there on a midsummer day in a city park, a young Chinese girl with my son of like age, fellow resident of his at the group home, similarly troubled but with the added barrier of language. No one spoke her native Mandarin at the residence and Mei Lin had only a smattering of English at her command.

That is where they stood, my son and the young girl from Shanghai, surrounded on all sides by that pale blue sprinkling of flowers that clings to the shoulder of a road, to the cracked macadam of an out-of-the-way or dead-end alley, to the vacant or abandoned lot, to the waste places and disturbed sites of transient human habitation.

I first discovered Mei Lin some days earlier in a spiral notebook left open on my son’s bed. Page after page of meticulous but masculinely drawn Chinese characters were there underlined by an English paraphrase in a feminine hand—the girl

208 Best Contemporary Tanka from Shanghai teaching my son Mandarin, my son teaching the girl English.

No one at the home could tell me how or when Mei Lin had arrived. Everyone agreed that she did so in her current state. Her world was elsewhere —not in North America, certainly, and perhaps not in Shanghai. Her world was my son’s, and my son’s was hers: for the time being—in the heat of a summer day, under a cloudless sky, there with the wildflowers.

a wayfarer or stowaway from Eurasia the chicory is blue on either side of the road

209

Editor Biographies

M. Kei

M. Kei crews aboard a skipjack, a traditional wooden sailboat used to dredge for oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, the last vessel in North America to fish commercially under sail. Sadly, it is not a profitable way to make a living anymore. The vessel serves as a museum on the water and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kei has published over 1100 tanka and 300 other short poems during the last few years. His first book was the anthology Fire Pearls : Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart (2006), which he edited. An instant classic, it was followed by Heron Sea, Short Poems of the Chesapeake (2007) and Slow Motion : The Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack (2008), the log he kept in poetic form while making extended cruises aboard a skipjack. He is the editor-in-chief of Take Five : Best Contemporary Tanka.

Sanford Goldstein

As for my own work, I have been a tanka poet for more about fifty years. I am called a co- translator of six collections of famous Japanese tanka poets. Even with years of study of Japanese, I could do nothing alone. Two books took five years each, though it was still enjoyable to do the translations. I know what it means to be rejected quite often these 65 years as a writer. So I join in sympathy with those whose tanka have not appeared in our edition. Take Five

Pamela A. Babusci

Pamela A. Babusci is an award winning poet and artist. Some of her awards include: Museum of Haiku Literature Award,Tanka Splendor Awards, First Place Yellow Moon Tanka Competition, First Place Kokako Tanka Competition, Basho Festival Haiku Contest, and HM Suruga Baika Literary Festival.

Pamela has illustrated several books, including: Full Moon Tide: The Best of Tanka Splendor Awards,Taboo Haiku, Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka and the forthcoming haiku chapbook: Chasing The Sun. She was the logo artist for Haiku North America in NYC in 2003 and Haiku North America in Winston-Salem, NC in 2007.

Poetry & art have been an integral part of her existence since her early teen age years & will continue to be a driving force until she meets her creator.

Patricia Prime

Patricia retired from teaching pre-school a couple of years ago, but is still involved in relief teaching and working with children at her local school with English as a second language. She is the co-editor of the NZ haiku magazine Kokako, reviews editor of Takahe and Stylus, and assistant

214 Best Contemporary Tanka editor of Haibun Today. Patricia’s tanka has been published in Modern English Tanka, Atlas Poetica, Eucalypt, Ribbons, moonset, Gusts, 3 Lights Gallery, Kokako, Time Haiku, Presence and Blithe Spirit. Her haiku have been published in several magazines and her haibun have been published in Contemporary Haibun Online and Haibun Today.

She has been published, with three other poets, in the haibun collaboration Quartet and is currently working on a tanka prose collaboration with three other poets. Patricia also writes articles, mainstream poetry, annually judges a formal poetry contest, is one of the nominees for the tanka for Gusts, and is on the panel of judges for the Presence Seashell Game.

Bob Lucky

Bob Lucky holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Washington. He is currently in the online MFA program through the University of Texas at El Paso. His work has appeared in various international journals. He has spent stretches of his adult life living and working throughout Asia. Currently, he lives with his wife and son in Hangzhou, China, where he teaches history and makes noise on an assortment of ukuleles.

215 Take Five

Kala Ramesh

Kala Ramesh is a musician and haiku poet. Her work, consisting of more than 200 haiku, tanka, senryu, haibun, renku and one-line haiku, have appeared in leading e-zines and anthologies.

_kala heads the World Haiku Club in India. As director, she organised the World Haiku Club Meet in Pune in 2006. The four-day 9th World Haiku Festival she organized at Bangalore in February 2008 was sponsored jointly by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ji and Sri Ratan Tata Trust. Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The World Haiku Review, also she is an in- house editor of poetry in Katha, a leading publishing house in India.

_kala is an exponent of both Carnatic and Hindustani Classical Music styles. She has performed professionally in major cities in India.

216 Best Contemporary Tanka

Credits

All abbreviations from 'Tanka Venues,' as approved for use by the Tanka Society of America, .

Hortensia Anderson his parting words, RIBN 4:3 Susan Antolin the details MARI 18 Aurora Antonovic over the river, WLOT 6 in Korea, REDL 4:1 she drinks her coffee, SH 6:1 how tenderly, RIBN 4:1 those years I spent, RIBN 4:2 after the argument, RIBN 4:3 in foster care, RIBN 4:4 an'ya in forward flight, a tanka companion. Pittsboro, NC: Rosenberry Books, 2008 sidewalk café, a tanka companion. Pittsboro, NC: Rosenberry Books, 2008 old memories, [First Prize] Int'l Tanka Competition, TSA, 2008 That final spring, ASHM The old tire swing, Among the Lilies : A White Lotus Anthology. Marie Summers, an'ya, Harriot West, Francis Masat, and Better Wapner (boki), eds. Excelsior Springs, MO: Shadow Poetry, 2008 Harue Aoki as in that summer / chichi yukishi, White Petals. Tokyo, JP: Shichigatsudo, 2008 my late father's / saki-somuru, White Petals. Tokyo, JP: Shichigatsudo, 2008 Megan Arkenberg october morning, ASHM seashells left, Promenade, 3LG Pamela A. Babusci rising with the, REDL 4:1 my big sister, Bohemian Spirit, 3LG how elegant, Bohemian Spirit, 3LG never learning Italian, Bohemian Spirit, 3LG childhood memories, Way Back Home, 3LG

217 Take Five

plucking out, ASHM who will visit me, ASHM a heartache or two, RIBN 4:3 Dave Bacharach surprised, ASHM last night, RIBN 4:2 driving away, SH 6:1 washing down, SH 6:1 a bluebird house, [Honorable Mention] Saigyo Award 2008 Marty Baird river's edge, SGL 2008 Jon Baldwin drunk again, BLTH 18:3 Collin Barber a sudden hailstorm, RIBN 4:2 driving for miles, SH 6:1 sunlight, SH 6:1 John Barlow alone by choice, [Honorable Mention] SFIT, MARI 18 sitting alone, Promenade, 3LG she asks me, Bittern's Neck, 3LG Frederick Bassett Something harsh, MET 2:4 Roberta Beary after the fire dies, ASHM Janick Belleau Good Friday black cat, GUST 7 Cathy Drinkwater Better growing my hair, ASHM love poems, SH 6:4 word of your illness, SH 6:4 Randy Brooks pebbles on, MET 3:2 Marjorie Buettner even though, Seeing it Now. Northfield, MN: Red Dragonfly Press, 2008 the path they say, RIBN 4:1 putting away, [Second Prize] Saigyo Award 2008 Owen Bullock autumn walk, from 'Something About This Light.' ATPO 2 David Caruso That dented, ASHM AA meeting, REDL 4:1

218 Best Contemporary Tanka

James Chessing my teenage son, MARI 19 Bell Gale Chevigny the fact that I, ASHM Margaret Chula at the altar, ATPO 1 I felt your presence, ATPO 1 now in his sixties, ASHM cleaning out, [Honorable Mention] Saigyo Award 2008 Tom Clausen blowing across, [Honorable Mention] Int'l Tanka Competition, TSA, 2008 having worn out, RIBN 4:2 without the guard, SH 6:3 scattering salt, SH 6:3 my wife spends the day, SH 6:2 full of rain, ASHM asked to arrange, GUST 8 Serban Codrin The wind scatters / Tocmai spulber!, ATPO 1 Norman Darlington down the bakery, SH 6.2 Janet Lynn Davis the assortment REDL 4:2 eighty-one, SH 6.1 a girl whose dolls, SH 6.1 I tell him, BTLR 18 never thought, MET 3:1 the time we spend, RIBN 4:3 Cherie Hunter Day in a crowded café, Kindle of Green. With David Rice. San Diego, CA: Platyopus Books, 2008. Andrew Detheridge rush hour, EUCL 4 Melissa Dixon summer sunshine, MET 3:1 Jim Doss it just goes, SH 6.1 winter afternoon, SH 6.1 Curtis Dunlap the moon, MAGN 1 Jeanne Emrich nursing home visit, ASHM long winter hours, ASHM

219 Take Five

autumn in Paris, SGL 2008 Margarita Engle strawberry field, ATPO 1 ranchland, ATPO 1 between journeys, ATPO 1 Michael Evans how sad, MET 2:4 last night, [Honorable Mention] Int'l Tanka Competition. TSA, 2008 Amelia Fielden holding him, ASHM no matter, In Two Minds. With Kathy Kituai. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 his blond hair, In Two Minds. With Kathy Kituai. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 red umbrellas TTJ 32 spray rises, ATPO 1 Trish Fong just when I think, TSPL 2008 Sylvia Forges-Ryan autumn afternoon, [Honorable Mention] SFIT. MARI 18 Stanford M. Forrester finding, GUST 7 Bernard Gadd if my ashes, ASHM Linda Galloway they painted, MARI 18 glass chimneys, RIBN 4:3 Denis M. Garrison the moan, GUST 7 a flock of gulls, from 'Pumpkin Fields' MDHG and when, ASHM some nights, ASHM I am still here, ASHM Beverley George always elusive, BLTH 18:2 at your wake, TTJ 32 how much time and care, REDL 4:1 out there, SH 6:3 it seems you wished, MNST 4:2 Locket, with Julie Thorndyke, [Second Place] TSPL 2008 Sanford Goldstein ah, a return, GUST 8 called upstairs, BLTH 18:1

220 Best Contemporary Tanka

in this squalid, MAGN 1 rare is it, ASHM all I saw, Selections from Forty Years on My Tanka Road, Niigata, Japan: Noh Theater, 2008 only a one sentence, Selections from Forty Years on My Tanka Road, Niigata, Japan: Noh Theater, 2008 in this narrow, Postcards and Art (Series 2). Michael McClintock and Karen McClintock, eds. Fresno, CA: Three Fountains Press, 2008 holy ground: a contrapuntal tanka string, ATPO 1 Tom Gomes a moon, BLTH 18:2 M. L. Grace with flowers, [Honorable Mention] Saigyo Award 2008 Andrea Grillo night, ATPO 1 David Gross not speaking, LILR 164 William Hart a rooster on a leg string, ATPO 2 M. L. Harvey the White Out, MET 3:1 he comes home, ATPO 2 narrow joys, ATPO 2 C. W. Hawes blood-soaked the bodies, MET 2:4 Peggy Heinrich When did I cross, RIBN 4:3 Lorne Henry a cool night, Earth Hour : A Eucalypt Challenge. Pearl Beach, AUS: EUCL, 2008 William J. Higginson in growing light, from the 'Sea of Okhotsk,' ASHM ruth holzer the farther, from 'all the mornings of the world,' LYNX XXIII:1 Elizabeth Howard high school reunion, ASHM Roger Jones a janitor, MET 3:1 my wife comes across, MET 2:4 Jim Kacian suddenly, ATPO 1 Kirsty Karkow

221 Take Five

waking, REDL 4:1 I grumble, GUST 8 a wisp of smoke, RIBN 4:3 here on a knoll, [Second Prize] Int'l Tanka Competition. TSA, 2008 as vague, MAGN 2 if you thought, ASHM dark of night, [Honorable Mention] Saigyo Award 2008 M. Kei first day of the year, MET 3:2 After his strokes, ASHM she mentions, Bridge of Bones, LILR 166 one spot of tar, LYNX XXIII:1 I wanted to argue, Love Letters, 3LG raising the hatch, Slow Motion : The Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 in the end, TSPL 2008 broken shells, [First Place] Tanka Contest, MNST 4:2 for Sean, a sequence, Love Letters, 3LG Susan Lee Kerr one minute none, BLTH 18:4 Michael Ketchek hot pants, black bra, MNST 4:2 love is easy I said, REDL 4:1 after reading Whitman, RIBN 4:2 June in Kodiak, ATPO 2 Larry Kimmel touch . . . touch, ASHM this creek, ASHM this past August, SH 6:2 family in bed, SH 6:2 the sound of the siren, MET 3:1 Mariko Kitakubo as if I am, from 'dolphins glitter,' Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008 in the deep silence, from 'the womb of Eve,' Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008 on a far off sandhill, from 'between my distant past and the future,' Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008

222 Best Contemporary Tanka

I have no way, from 'Rounding the Earth's Axis' Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008 maybe it's better, from 'Wings for My Back,' Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008 how small, 'Wings for My Back,' Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008 like clouds, from 'letters,' Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008 Kathy Kituai in the end, In Two Minds. With Amelia Fielden. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 every night, [Winner] Teatowel Tanka : responses by poets in 2008 to the art of Otagaki Rengetsu 1791-1875. Beverley George, ed. Pearl Beach, AUS: EUCL, 2008 still honouring, In Two Minds. With Amelia Fielden. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Deborah P. Kolodji slow and shaky, MET 2:4 Robert Kusch this rope bridge, RIBN 4:2 Lynne Leach my mariner son, MARI 18 puddles full of sky, MARI 18 Gary LeBel Three hundred and eleven years, ASHM On a busy street corner, ASHM In fresh June skies, Abacus: Prose poems, haibun and short poems. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Mulling it over and over, Abacus: Prose poems, haibun and short poems. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Mason Jar, TTPA Angela Leuck confusing the word, MET 3:2 pink sweetheart roses, REDL 4:1 never knowing, RIBN 4:2 learning to appreciate, MET 2:4 Darrel Lindsey a long letter, Thisisby.us Bob Lucky another summer, Way Back Home, 3LG on my own, RIBN 4:1

223 Take Five

mid-sentence, MET 2:4 sleeping alone, Nocturne, 3LG seven million souls, SH 6:1 I like to think, BTLR 19 In Hanoi, ATPO 2 Three, TTPA Jeanne Lupton 61st Christmas, GUST 8 Carole MacRury pure linen, Teatowel Tanka : responses by poets in 2008 to the art of Otagaki Rengetsu 1791-1875 /. Beverley George, ed. Pearl Beach, AUS: EUCL, 2008 she watches, In the Company of Crows : Haiku and Tanka Between the Tides. Eldersburg, MD: Black Cat Press, 2008 my virginity, In the Company of Crows : Haiku and Tanka Between the Tides. Eldersburg, MD: Black Cat Press, 2008 full of stealth, In the Company of Crows : Haiku and Tanka Between the Tides. Eldersburg, MD: Black Cat Press, 2008 after 40 years, Year of the Mouse : A Eucalypt Challenge. Pearl Beach, AUS: EUCL, 2008 Laura Maffei this friend who made out, ASHM Mary Mageau the one night stand, GUST 7 A. A. Marcoff I am, BLTH 18:1 Thelma Mariano chilly day, ASHM Francis Masat dinner cruise, ATPO 2 across the valley, ATPO 2 3 AM – still, ATPO 1 Karen McClintock All her days, ASHM Michael McClintock wanting to go, Meals at Midnight. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 like butterflies, BTLR 19 the new loft, BLTH 18:1 the faint moisture, MDHG I've nothing left, SH 6:3

224 Best Contemporary Tanka

the bust of Antony, SH 6:3 a man and boy, ATPO 2 I lived and slept, MET 3:1 Tyrone McDonald slowly unfolding, BTLR 19 Jo McInerney smiling, MET 2:4 Dorothy McLaughlin gray winter morning, RIBN 4:2 Paul Mercken dusty from the climb / stoffig door de klim, ATPO 1 Annette Mineo watching streams of white sails, ATPO 1 as the young humpback, ATPO 1 Vasile Moldovan Funeral ceremony, ASHM Mike Montreuil across the street, MET 2:4 Jim Moore It may be that dying, NOON, 2008 June Moreau What's on the other side, LYNX XXIII:1 Joan Murphy fresh flowers, RIBN 4:4 their ashes, RIBN 4:4 H. Gene Murtha my finger, TSPL 2008 Peter Newton my father asleep, MET 2:4 Linda Papanicolaou at the guardrail, RIBN 4:1 Patrick M. Pilarski false spring, SH 6:4 Jack Prewitt unabashed, MET 2:4 I know the odds, MET 2:4 a bed of roses, ASHM serelemar cliffs, ATPO 1 Patricia Prime at Bethall’s Beach, ATPO 1 each moment, EUCL 5 earth hour Earth Hour : A Ecualypt Challenge. Pearl Beach, AUS: EUCL, 2008

225 Take Five

the time of spending, Feeling the Squeeze: A Eucalypt Challenge Pearl Beach, AUS: EUCL, 2008 everywhere, MET 3:1 a passenger liner, ATPO 1 in her lounge, MET 2:4 All Clear, TTPA Carol Purington counting ladybugs, RIBN 4:2 After the heavy rain, So the Elders Say : Tanka Sequences. Carol Purington and Larry Kimmel. Colrain, MA: Winfred Press, 2008 John Quinnett on the porch, WLOT 7 Claudia Coutu Radmore i would like, MET 2:4 David Rice narrow layers, Kindle of Green. With Cherie Hunter Day. San Diego, CA: Platyopus Books, 2008. Andrew Riutta $795.00, Cigarette Butts and Lilacs. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Small bits of gravel, Cigarette Butts and Lilacs. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 A fifth of rum, Cigarette Butts and Lilacs. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Like Buddhist monks, Cigarette Butts and Lilacs. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Such a long winter, Cigarette Butts and Lilacs. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 This night, Cigarette Butts and Lilacs. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Just by sewing, Cigarette Butts and Lilacs. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Thursday Night, Contemporary Haibun 4:3 Barbara Robidou I could tell, RIBN 4:4 James Rohrer my ancestors, WLOT 6 Singing Silence, ATPO 2 Alexis Rotella Department store, WIST 8 These persimmons, MET 2:4 our white cat, Light in Every Room, 3LG Furniture store window, ATPO 1

226 Best Contemporary Tanka

Old man, Looking for a Prince. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008 Miriam Sagan even after, RIBN 4:3 Fujiko Sato I rewind a videotape, SH 6.4 Grant D. Savage all this white, REDL 4:1 rushing past the paving crew, GUST 8 Philip Schofield the mist, PAPW 14:1 Billy Simms ashes, ASHM Guy Simser agnostic, I stand, ATPO 1 holding on, GUST 7 high-school reunion, GUST 7 Paul Smith thoughtless, MET 3:1 John Soules not realizing, TSPL 2008 Art Stein ice floes move, SGL 2008 hot august, MNST 4:2 John Stevenson thirty years, RIBN 4:3 the unknown man, RIBN 4:3 Richard Stevenson She's not in the mood, ATPO 1 ash in the pipe, ASHM as if to say, ATPO 1 I don't know what's worse, The Emerald Hour : Haiku, Senryu, Tanka, and Zappai. Victoria, BC, CAN: Ekstatis Editions, 2008 Maria Steyn energy distilled, SGL 2008 John Stone coroner's wagon, SH 6:2 André Surridge the old woman, ASHM today the words, SH 6:2 sometimes, TSPL 2008 summer wind, EUCL 4 George Swede

227 Take Five

Mother has sent, ASHM Noriko Tanaka oh, fall hard, Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami-shobou, 2008 I gazed, Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami-shobou, 2008 portrait of the everyday, Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami- shobou, 2008 the noodle man, Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami-shobou, 2008 this is a love, Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami-shobou, 2008 after grandmother, Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami-shobou, 2008 Frans Terryn All Soul's Day, TSPL 2008 Carolyn Thomas summer heat, REDL 4:1 Marc Thompson riding a bus, ASHM Tony A Thompson summer thunderstorm, REDL 4:1 Michael Thorley The Hundredth Year, MNST 4:2 Julie Thorndyke in the summer night, ATPO 1 I fold your shirt, Rick Rack. Port Adelaide, AUS: Ginninderra Press, 2008 Locket, with Beverley George, [Second Place] TSPL 2008 Kozue Uzawa one snail, GUST 8 I am the only, TTJ 32 Geert Verbeke I spill some wine, Tanka. India: Cyberwit, 2008 Ella Wagemakers after two days, ATPO 1 sewing a button, MET 2:4 my husband, MET 2:4 by tomorrow, MET 2:4 Linda Jeannette Ward after the move, TSPL 2008

228 Best Contemporary Tanka

turned twenty last month, ASHM in the dark recesses, MET 3:1 Michael Dylan Welch a week after, [Honorable Mention] Int'l Tanka Competition. TSA, 2008 Liam Wilkinson you showed from, 'Winter Coats and Moonlight', MET 2:4 washing it down, MET 3:1 the simplicity she brings, MET 3:1 alone again, ATPO 1 robert d. wilson she looks at, GUST 8 I rode through, from 'The Philippines,' ATPO 2 Jeffrey Woodward the road to you, MET 2:4 The Girl from Shanghai, TTPA An Xiao What can you teach me, ASHM Peter Yovu still held, [First Place] Saigyo Award 2008 I can't say if, REDL 4:2 Aya Yuhki child's fingertips, RIBN 4:2 my wayward amble, SGL 2008 brightness, EUCL 5

229

List of Venues 2008

All abbreviations from 'Tanka Venues,' as approved for use by the Tanka Society of America, .

Print Periodicals

Albatros: Magazine of the Constanta Haiku Society. Constanta, RO, 2008. Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka. Kei, M., ed. [ATPO] Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Blithe Spirit Journal : Journal of the British Haiku Society. [BLTH] London, UK: British Haiku Society, 2008. bottle rockets. Stanford Forrester, ed. [BTLR] Windsor, CT: bottle rockets Press, 2008. Eucalypt : A Tanka Journal. [EUCL] Pearl Beach, AUS, 2008. Gusts : Contemporary Tanka. [GUST] Burnaby, BC: Tanka Canada, 2008. Haiku : Journal of the Romanian Haiku Society. RO, 2008. HPNC Newsletter #49. San Francisco, CA: Haiku Poets of Northern California, 2008. Haiku Scotland. West Lothian, UK, 2008. Hummingbird : Magazine of the Short Poem. [HBRD] Richland Center, WI, 2008. Kokako. [KOKA] Waihi, NZ, 2008. Lilliput Review. [LILR] Pittsburg, PA: Lilliput Review, 2008. Loch Raven Review. Baltimore, MD, 2008. Magnapoets : taking over the world one poem at a time. Tecumseh, ONT, 2008. Mariposa. San Francisco, CA: Haiku Poets of Northern California, 2008. Modern English Tanka. [MET] Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. moonset / literary newspaper /. [MNST] La Pine, OR: the natal * light press, 2008. Noon : Journal of the Short Poem. [Noon] Tokyo, JP, 2008. Paper Wasp. [PAPW] Chapel Hill, Queensland, AUS, 2008. Phantom Seed. Palm Desert, CA, 2008. Presence. [PRES] Preston, UK, 2008. red lights : a tanka journal. [REDL] New York, NY, 2008. Ribbons : Tanka Society of America Journal. [RIBN] 2008. Saigyo Awards. Hemet, CA, 2008.

231 Take Five

Santa Fe Poetry Special Issue #55. Santa Fe, NM, September, 2008. The Tanka Journal. [TTJ] Tokyo, JP: Nihon Kaijin (Tanka Poet Club), 2008. Time Haiku. London, UK: Time Haiku Group, 2008. White Lotus Journal. [WLOT] Excelsior Springs, MO: Shadow Poetry, 2008.

Anthologies & Contests

Better, Cathy Drinkwater, & Elizabeth Fanto, eds. Lunch Break : Haiku Poets of Central Maryland Member's Compilation No. 3. [HPCM] Eldersburg, MD: Black Cat Press, 2008. George, Beverley, ed. Earth Hour : A Eucalypt Challenge. Pearl Beach, AUS: Eucalypt, 2008. —ed. Feeling the Squeeze : A Eucalypt Challenge. Pearl Beach, AUS: Eucalypt, 2008. —ed. Teatowel Tanka Contest : A Eucalypt Challenge. Pearl Beach, AUS: Eucalypt, 2008. —ed. Teatowel Tanka : responses by poets in 2008. to the art of Otagaki Rengetsu 1791-1875. Pearl Beach, AUS: Eucalypt, 2008. —ed. Year of the Mouse : A Eucalypt Challenge. Pearl Beach, AUS: Eucalypt, 2008. Haiku Poets of Northern California. San Francisco International Competition : Tanka Contest. [SFIT] San Francisco, CA: Mariposa Kolodji, Deborah, P. & Stephen M. Wilson, eds. Dwarf Stars 2008. Covina, CA: Science Fiction Poetry Society, 2008. Patterson, Robert. Tanka Ancient and Modern. Memphis, TN: Luna Nova Music Ensemble, 2008. Reichhold, Jane, ed. Tanka Splendor Awards. [TSPL] Gualala, CA: AHA Books, 2008. Rotella, Alexis, & Denis M. Garrison, eds. Ash Moon Anthology : Poems on Aging in Modern English Tanka. [ASHM] Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Siddiqui, Mohammed H., ed. Season's Greeting Letter : Stream-River. [SGL] Baltimore, MD: Mohammed H. Siddiqui, 2008. Summers, Marie; an’ya; Harriot West; Francis Masat; Better Wapner (b'oki), eds. Among the Lilies : A White Lotus Anthology. Excelsior, MO: Shadow Poetry, 2008.

232 Best Contemporary Tanka

Tanka Society of America. International Tanka Contest. 2008. Thomas, Carolyn, ed. The Saigyo Awards for Tanka 2008. Hemet, CA, 2008. Wilkinson, Liam & Diane Sturch, eds. Nocturne. [3LG] Yorkshire, UK: 3Lights Gallery, 2008. —Promenade. [3LG] Yorkshire, UK: 3Lights Gallery, 2008. —way back home : Haiku & Tanka of Home & Belonging. [3LG] Yorkshire, UK: 3Lights Gallery, 2008. Woodward, Jeffrey, ed. Tanka Prose Anthology. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008.

Works by Individual Authors

Aoki, Harue. White Petals. Tokyo, JP: Shichigatsudo, 2008. an’ya. A Tanka Companion : 101 Tanka by an'ya. Pittsboro, NC: Rosenberry Books, 2008. Babusci, Pamela A. Bohemian Spirit. [3LG] Yorkshire, UK: 3Lights Gallery, 2008. Baranosky, Edward. Inlets. Canada, 2008. Barlow, John. The Bittern's Neck : A Three Lights Exhibition. Sean Gray, photographer. York, UK: 3Lights Gallery, 2008. Buettner, Marjorie. Seeing It Now : Haiku and Tanka. Northfield, MN: Red Dragonfly Press, 2008. Bruce, Dawn. Sketching Light. Charnwood, ACT, Australia: Ginninderra Press, 2008. Day, Cherie Hunter & David Rice. Kindle of Green : Collaborative Tanka Sequence. Northfield, MA: Swamp Press, 2008. Fielden, Amelia & Kathy Kituai. In Two Minds. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Goldstein, Sanford. Selections from Four Decades on My Tanka Road. Aiko Sato, trans. Niigata, JP: Wa! Project, 2008. Hahn, Kimiko. The Narrow Road to the Interior. New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 2008. Kei, M. Lilliput Review #166 : Bridge of Bones. Pittsburgh, PA: Lilliput Review, 2008. —Love Letters: Homoerotic Tanka of Love and Friendship. [3LG] Yorkshire, UK: 3Lights Gallery, 2008.

233 Take Five

—Slow Motion : The Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Kitakubo, Mariko. Cicada Forest. Amelia Fielden, trans. Tokyo, JP: Kadokawa Shoten, 2008. LeBel, Gary. Abacus : Prose poems, haibun and short poems. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Lockhart, J. Andrew. Tangled in Wisteria. Mustang, OK: Tate Publishing. & Enterprises, 2008. MacRury, Carole. In the Company of Crows : Tanka and Haiku Between the Tides. Eldersburg, MD: Black Cat Press, 2008. Martell, John. The Winking Stars. Pittsboro, NC: Rosenberry Books, 2008. McClintock, Michael. Meals at Midnight. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. McClintock, Michael, & Karen McClintock. Poetry and Art Postcards (Series One). Fresno, CA: Three Fountains Press, 2008. —Poetry and Art Postcards (Series Two). Fresno, CA: Three Fountains Press, 2008. Purington, Carol, & Larry Kimmel. So the Elders Say : Tanka Sequences. Colrain, MA: Winfred Press, 2008. Riutta, Andrew. Cigarette Butts and Lilacs : tokens of a heritage. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Rotella, Alexis. Light in Every Room : A Three Lights Exhibition. [3LG] Yorkshire, UK: 3Lights Gallery, 2008. —Looking for a Prince : A Collection of Senryu and Kyoka. Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Rudychev, Natalia L. Window Display. Highland, IL: Bett’s Boutique, 2008. Sato, Noriko. Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami-shobou, 2008. Stevenson, Richard, & Ellen McArth. The Emerald Hour. Victoria, BC, CAN: Ekstatis Editions, 2008. Takeyama, Hiroshi. Everlasting River. Aya Yuhki, trans. Tokyo, JP: Nagarami, 2008. Tanaka, Noriko. Doorway to the Sky. Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi, trans. Japan, 2008. Telford, Gillian. Moments of Perfect Poise. Port Adelaide, AUS: Ginninderra Press, 2008. Thomas, Carolyn. Notes from a Poet’s Journal : haiku and tanka. Hemet, CA: n.p., 2008. Thorley, Michael. Sleeping Alone. Port Adelaide, AUS: Ginninderra Press, 2008.

234 Best Contemporary Tanka

Thorndyke, Julie. Rick Rack : collected tanka. Port Adelaide, AUS: Ginninderra Press, 2008. Verbeke, Geert. Brother Buddha : Haiku & Tanka. India: Cyberwit, 2008. —Hermit : Reflections about haiku, a tribute to Master Basho. Kortrikjk, Flanders, Belgium: Geert Verbeke, 2008. —Ox : haibun, haiku, tanka. India: Cyberwit, 2008. —Tanka. India: Cyberwit, 2008.

Websites and Online Journals (does not include workshop sites)

Bolts of Silk : beautiful poetry with something to say. Cosmopoetry. SARM (Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy) and Friends. Chrysanthemum. Haibun Today : The State of the Art. HaigaONLINE : A Journal of Poetry and Painting. Haiku du Jour. Ink, Sweats, and Tears : the poetry & prose webzine: Haibun, Haiku & Haiga. Lynx : a journal for linking poets. [LYNX] Gualala, C: AHA Poetry, 2008. Modern Haiga : Presenting Modern Graphic Poetry at Its Best. [MDHG] Baltimore, MD: MET Press, 2008. Mountain and Rivers, an online community dedicated to nature writing. New Verse News. Scifaikuest. Simply Haiku : A Quarterly Journal of Japanese Short Form Poetry. Sketchbook : A Journal for Eastern and Western Short Forms. Stylus Poetry Journal. [STYL] AUS, 2008.

235 Take Five

Tanka Is Now. Tanka Splendor Awards 2008. TankaNetz. TankaOnline. Three Lights Gallery.

Blogs, Personal Pages, Miscellaneous Online Works

Deborah P. Kolodji - Poetry Scrapbook and Random Musings. Deborah P. Kolodji. Kujaku Poetry. M. Kei. Laugh Like Sarah. Sarah Marshall. Michele Harvey. Monkeywrench Emporium : The Poetry, Musings, and Miscellany of an American Zero. Zero Anon. Oh Katherine, My Katherine. Okmk. Past Tense : A Collection of Haiku, Tanka, Haiga, and Other Forms of Poetry. J. Andrew Lockhart. Tanka Poet Mariko Kitakubo. Mariko Kitakubo. Thisisby.us.

236 Index

Hortensia Anderson, 39 Denis M. Garrison, 82-83 Susan Antolin, 39 Beverley George, 84-85, Aurora Antonovic, 40-41 198-200 an'ya, 42-43 Sanford Goldstein, 86-87, Harue Aoki, 44 183-191 Megan Arkenberg, 45 Tom Gomes, 88 Pamela A. Babusci, cover, M. L. Grace, 88 46-47, 192-193 Andrea Grillo, 89 Dave Bacharach, 48-49 David Gross, 90 Marty Baird, 50 William Hart, 90 Jon Baldwin, 50 M. L. Harvey, 91 Collin Barber, 51 C. W. Hawes, 92 John Barlow, 52 Peggy Heinrich, 92 Frederick Bassett, 53 Lorne Henry, 93 Roberta Beary, 54 William J. Higginson, 94 Janick Belleau, 54 ruth holzer, 95 Cathy Drinkwater Better, 55 Elizabeth Howard, 95 Randy Brooks, 56 Roger Jones, 96 Marjorie Buettner, 57 Jim Kacian, 97 Owen Bullock, 58 Kirsty Karkow, 98-99 David Caruso, 59 M. Kei, 9, 100-101, 194 James Chessing, 60 Susan Lee Kerr, 102 Bell Gale Chevigny, 60 Michael Ketchek, 103 Margaret Chula, 61 Larry Kimmel, 104-105 Tom Clausen, 62-63 Mariko Kitakubo, 106-107 Serban Codrin, 64 Kathy Kituai, 108 Norman Darlington, 65 Deborah P. Kolodji, 109 Janet Lynn Davis, 66-67 Robert Kusch, 109 Cherie Hunter Day, 68 Lynne Leach, 110 Andrew Detheridge, 69 Gary LeBel, 111, 203 Melissa Dixon, 70 Angela Leuck, 112 Jim Doss, 71 Darrel Lindsey, 113 Curtis Dunlap, 72 Bob Lucky, 114-115, 207 Jeanne Emrich, 73 Jeanne Lupton, 116 Margarita Engle, 74 Carole MacRury, 118-119 Michael Evans, 75 Laura Maffei, 117 Amelia Fielden, 76-77 Mary Mageau, 120 Trish Fong, 78 A. A. Marcoff, 121 Sylvia Forges-Ryan, 78 Thelma Mariano, 121 Stanford M. Forrester, 79 Francis Masat, 122 Bernard Gadd, 80 Karen McClintock, 123 Linda Galloway, 81 Michael McClintock, 124-125

237 Tyrone McDonald, 126 Michael Thorley, 196-197 Jo McInerney, 127 Julie Thorndyke, 169, Dorothy McLaughlin, 127 198-199 Paul Mercken, 128 Kozue Uzawa, 170 Annette Mineo, 129 Geert Verbeke, 171 Vasile Moldovan, 130 Ella Wagemakers, 172 Mike Montreuil, 130 Linda Jeannette Ward, 173 Jim Moore, 131 Michael Dylan Welch, 174 June Moreau, 132 Liam Wilkinson, 175 Joan Murphy, 133 robert d. wilson, 176 H. Gene Murtha, 134 Jeffrey Woodward, 177, Peter Newton, 134 208-209 Linda Papanicolaou, 135 An Xiao, 178 Patrick M. Pilarski, 136 Peter Yovu, 179 Jack Prewitt, 137 Aya Yuhki, 180 Patricia Prime, 138-139, 206 Carol Purington, 140 John Quinnett, 141 Claudia Coutu Radmore, 142 David Rice, 143 Andrew Riutta, 144-145, 204-205 Barbara Robidoux, 146 James Rohrer, 147, 195 Alexis Rotella, 148-149 Miriam Sagan, 150 Fujiko Sato, 150 Grant D. Savage, 151 Philip Schofield, 152 Billy Simms, 153 Guy Simser, 154 Paul Smith, 155 John Soules, 156 Art Stein, 157 John Stevenson, 158 Richard Stevenson, 159 Maria Steyn, 160 John Stone, 161 André Surridge, 162 George Swede, 163 Noriko Tanaka, 164-165 Frans Terryn, 166 Carolyn Thomas, 167 Marc Thompson, 167 Tony A. Thompson, 168

238 Also from MODERN ENGLISH TANKA PRESS

Blue Night & the inadequacy of long- this hunger, tissue-thin: new & sel. tanka stemmed roses with The Temperature of 1995–2005 ! Larry Kimmel Love (2nd Ed.) ! Larry Kimmel Jun Fujita, Tanka Pioneer ! Denis M. Tanka from the Edge ! Miriam Sagan Garrison, Ed. Landfall: Poetry of Place in Mod. Eng. Jack Fruit Moon ! Robert D. Wilson Tanka ! Denis M. Garrison and Michael McClintock, Eds. Meals at Midnight ! Poems by Michael McClintock Lip Prints: Tanka and Other Short Poems 1979-2007 ! Alexis Rotella Lilacs After Winter ! Francis Masat Ouch: Senryu That Bite ! Alexis Rotella

Proposing to the Woman in the Rear View Eavesdropping: Seasonal Haiku ! Alexis Mirror ! Haiku & Senryu by James Tipton. Rotella

Abacus: Prose poems, haibun & short poems Tanka Teachers Guide ! Denis M. Garrison, ! Gary LeBel Ed.

Looking for a Prince: a collection of senryu Five Lines Down: A Landmark in English and kyoka ! Alexis Rotella Tanka ! Denis M. Garrison, Ed. Sixty Sunflowers: TSA Members’ Anthology The Tanka Prose Anthology ! Jeffrey 2006-2007 ! Sanford Goldstein, Ed. Woodward, Ed. The Dreaming Room: Mod. Eng. Tanka in Greetings from Luna Park ! Sedoka, James Collage and Montage Sets ! Michael Roderick Burns McClintock and Denis M. Garrison, Eds.

In Two Minds ! Responsive Tanka by Haiku Harvest 2000-2006 ! Denis M. Amelia Fielden and Kathy Kituai Garrison, Ed. Eight Shades of Blue ! Haiku by Denis M. An Unknown Road ! Haiku by Adelaide B. Garrison Shaw The Salesman’s Shoes ! Tanka, James Slow Motion: The Log of a Chesapeake Roderick Burns Skipjack ! M. Kei Hidden River ! Haiku by Denis M. Garrison Ash Moon Anthology: Poems on Aging in Modern English Tanka ! Alexis Rotella & The Five-Hole Flute: Modern English Tanka in Sequences and Sets ! Denis M. Garrison Denis M. Garrison, Eds. and Michael McClintock, Eds. Fire Blossoms: The Birth of Haiku Noir ! Denis M. Garrison Journals

Cigarette Butts and Lilacs: tokens of a ! Modern English Tanka ! heritage ! Tanka by Andrew Riutta ! Concise Delight ! Atlas Poetica ! Sailor in the Rain and Other Poems ! Denis ! Modern Haiga ! M. Garrison ! Ambrosia ! Prune Juice ! ! Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose ! Four Decades on My Tanka Road: Tanka Collections of Sanford Goldstein ! Sanford Goldstein. Fran Witham, Ed.