Modern TANKA Corner 2009 - 2010
Page 1.
Tanka (five lines with 5-7-5-7-7 or short-long-short-long-long structure), is one of the shortest literary art forms in the world that merges the perception of nature with a moment in human nature or with an event. They make the simplicity of a moment significant and memorable. Tanka have poetic patterns which fuse with descriptive ways of experiencing the wonders of the world and the human condition. Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine hopes to capture the essence of the tanka tradition with all respect due to the Japanese art form.
Pays $1.00 per tanka if funds permit. Manuscripts cannot be returned.
Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine © 2007-2019
floating
in my half empty glass
a half moon
as I reflect
on my sinking dreams
rising from the earth
new hyacinths
to replace the old
a toddler asks
"So when's grandpa coming back?"
late afternoon stroll
humming to myself
I ignore bird calls
taking the same path as me
and the setting sun
I am a seashell,
sitting by the shoreline
waiting for someone
to notice my beauty
and make me theirs
in her song
sorrow kept pouring
like monsoon rain in my cup
and it filled my ears
this black summer night
by R.D. BAILEY
(first published in Modern English Tanka 12, 2009)
busier than spring
breeze
cherry blossoms
in every picture
petals fall
open casket:
we used to watch
the autumn moonset...
relatives bicker
over her estate
by Raquel D. BAILEY
(first published in Red Lights, June 2009)
autumn leaves...
nurses remove
his browning sheets
while silence grows
even on tree branches
family
reunion
a gathering
of crickets communicate
better than we do
by R.D. BAILEY(first published in Atlas Poetica #4, Summer 2009)
your thoughts
are children at play
on monkey bars
swinging, dangling
until they fall
by Raquel D. BAILEY
(first published in Ribbons, Summer 2009)
I see it
deep in your eyes
a mythic bird
beautiful wild
and free
by Paul Smith
(first published in Modern English Tanka V3 N4 - Summer 2009)
a sliver of moon
in the clear night sky
but not
the faintest notion
you were leaving
by Paul SmithSunday morning --
the choice of drifting snow
or banked mounds
of equally mum
student papers
flu shot line --
the diabetic lady
grins and points
up the wind-blown skirt of her
blue Marilyn Munroe tattoo
by Richard Stevenson
Because
there was a hole,
I filled up the ear
of the younger sister
with a diamond
I
was the lucky life
until yesterday-
I laughed
until yesterday
by Matsusita Chieafternoon rain shower
across the high plains
scent of ponderosa pine
in cool tundra breeze
from nearby mountains
by Ayaz Daryl Nielsen
from her
string of pearls
I now wear …
a lingering scent
of fresh roses
by Nancy Nitrioshould you decide
to paint a memory of me
while dreaming,
let it be like the glimmer
on an evening lake
by Darrell Lindseywe spend
our anniversary
watching
songs of summer
fly south for the winter
by R.D. BAILEY(first published in Wisteria, January 2009)
interview day
judging business rivals
in the waiting room…
I check my reflection
in the firm’s koi pond
by C. William Hinderliter