pale blue confettismothering yellow primrosesswept away by the windthe joy of a spring weddingso quickly forgotten
Issue 1
67 tanka by 53 poets, from Tanka Journal’s free online edition.
Also in print
Issue 1 in paperback
This issue was printed by Prolific Press. Copies are still available in the bookstore.
Buy the paperbackthe light behind youwas too bright, your face was dark,the sun would not set.you and I burned less brightlyparting under moon and stars
I feel for womenin 8th century Japan.How lonely it was to believe a laurel grewon the surface of the moon.
summer survives mehardly with love from frond walls,love woven by hand---by daylight I am profound,by nightlight confounded still
screaming winds and rainshake the fragile window glasswe hook the shutterswaiting for the sky to crashthen silence brings the rainbow
she sweeps the waterraising her hand to the sundrops glisten like goldtears now falling from her eyestell us life's currents run deep
with loves tendernessa hand touches a womanthe noble writercreator of prose and versenow holds a cherry blossom
The breath of AutumnSummer skies weep for umberCold hand of WinterSouth bound cormorant fleeingNests abandoned until Spring
First Letteryour songsdraw me to youI know your heart-my eyes on yourswaiting breathlessly for moreReply Letterjasmine in your hairlove lights your dark eyesyou answer my songs-our voices and the moonthis sweet poetry of love
A stolen momentFingers entwine, eyes glance upTwo kites crossing pathsHarnessing our breathlessnessTowards their entanglement.
Love winds in my life,In my mind to weave sweet dreams,Which don't wither off,But take me to the sheer bliss,Whether there is hope or not.
Crimson and gold tonesbedazzled the jeweled trees,adorned for harvest --Hoping to reap love's bounty,I faced stark, chill emptiness.
we went to the woodson our anniversary--forty-seven years--no roof no altar this timerain dripped on us through the trees
the lake was secretits darkening noontime blue--swim for it you saidthe other side beckoningwrapping us up together
your kiss tastes of saltthe sea's juicy oysters, toosmall pearls of surprise–an undeniable routeto blood to lust toward loss
The sinking sun metthe purpling starlit sky --lovers approaching --cheek-to-cheek in the twilight,pulling on evening's cover.
A brilliant trumpetShattering the silence nowLove so beautifulSoul set free to live againSilence of the pulse extinct
Rendezvous with youI see you waiting for mecheeks flush step quickensI rush toward your waiting armstrying to stay in the dream
promise of rain hungheavy weights below gray skiespregnant without birtheach moment labors onwardcraving womb's final breaking
from between pagesthe forgotten petal fallson an empty shelfsettled dust is today's mudwhere the priest smells a smudged rose
Grasping at Scarlet,Umber, Crimson and AuburnAutumn deliversA placid melancholyAt odds with its warming hues
In pain, I go outAnd find a new sunflower--How quick it had changedNow wide open just like meTo new possibilities.
I lay my breadcrumbsBackwards around your timepieceA clock never stopsYou eat them all without meHunger is always on time
succulent slender grasssprouting from moist soilmorning Sun slowly risesas gazelles runacross the Sahara plains
geese, V upon V,in migration formationthunder less distanteven sightless eyes can seeseasons change in an instant
Gunmetal dreams burnflinty rolls of chalkdust smokeillusions die quietcolorlessly somber deathseclipsed by neon nightmares
standing close to mefingers feathering my neckpaparazzi swarmimages forever castnothing is ever sacred
orange blood moonabove the cloudless skytonight this silenceonly we both know so wellfills the gaps words cannot say
Departure of SpringFlowers ready to witherUnder barren touch....Homecoming of bare AutumnThe festival of red leaves
I put on more layersfor protection from the coldand I realizethere is no situationthat I cannot overcome.
stardust and sky swordsmade of lasers and light beamsmagical musesat war in the exosphere–highest good; lowest evil.
only a momentfrozen here in space and timewandering about–asking our bizarre questionsdemanding discreet answers.
Between railroad tracksA single blue flower stoodSo firm and slender -Much like I saw you this mornGorgeous in the face of death
Heartfelt sympathy,embraced in blue shadow light.Black rose bleeding red,tantalized in silent song.True love captures the moment.
In the still of nightyour hand resting on my waistigniting soul's flamerush of spring before first bloomfull of anticipation
We danced with a leaf,Before the last breath of fall.We played with colors,Before the darkness of night.Farewell to happiness !
I gave you no nameFor I could not give you lifeCherished unknown childDo you yawn in heaven's armsWhen I sing you lullabys?
cask of aging wineundrunk, not even tastedmy time has not comeI wait for heaven's stewardto approve and pour me out.
dry winds are callingat the edge of the grasslandswhen dunes are marchingonly green battalionsmight make the desert retreat
ObasuteI carried motherto the mountain top, leavingher there, as ordered.Descending alone, I wept,skipping lightly as a goat.
Two rivers twirl byplum blossom trees shadowed scrimI see behind dreams -his singular face, ramblingtossed through midnight's dark petals.
Brisk November wind Anxiety courses throughmy mind and bodypraying, singing, thanking God clinging to the faith of youth.
twenty years married:before turning out the lightI watch my wife sleepwith Fifty Shades of Grayspilled on her pillow
First Letteran ancient oak treetowers over the high torlightening answersmy arms outstretched mimic limbsmy heart pounds to the thunderReply letterthe storm passes swiftas the cut of a steel bladeuncauterized, rawthe walk home muddies my soleson the refuse of love's dream
Your graceful swan neckBends like willows kissing groundTouching my cheek softI tremble, feeling the windRising me high, flying homeYour eyes shine opalEvery color gloriousDrawing me to youHolding my breath with each blinkWaiting for your beauty once more~~~OOO~~~Listening to your rainReminds me of temple bellsAsking me to kneelTenderly upon your sandWarmth beneath my lonely feetYour eyebrows arc highFarther than the sun and starsYour light captures meWanting to bask in your glowHeavenly radiant shineYour voice flows like silkWrapping me in golden cordYour gift to openI wait to see you delightAs I sing to you my love
Even galaxiesCould not compare to your eyesSo close; yet so farWas your soft heartbeat from mine -Deception at its finest
I'm going backto a time when I wasa woman...my kimono brushesthe arid ground
silent apartmentlove lonely year witheringwinter frost creepingdark room, untouched things, I findjunk mail and a Christmas card
memories of himkeeper of law and justicewho died long agoI owe my existence tothe Judge who matched my parents
Youthful adventuresOn a summer vacationGreek sun on our skin–So many good memoriesThey continue to sparkle
Contemplated callTen digits between our pastsDialing her numberStaring at the telephoneAsleep before pressing “send”
this harsh realityI think I know it so well;the thing-in-itselfbelies the strange illusion,the reflection of the form.
First LetterYour eyes openingAs new blooms to welcome dawnRose upon my tears.Gulls cried for joy at sunriseAs I cried to meet again.Reply LetterNightingales must flySilent when the sun looks inTo the nests they know.Will the osprey soaring nowHere return from hunts at sea?
Flying on a planeSoaring through passing night cloudsI look toward the cloudsPeaking out the plane windowGazing at another's dreams
sweating shirtless menburning coals shaping metala group of blacksmithswork the anvil & bellowsmaking their hot day hotter
Gray weathered oak treecrushed by prevailing winds,leaning on my arm.She pulls rolls from the ovenand doesn't notice the heat.Old bricks crumbling,hot, cold, many seasonsthe building topples.So much rubble in the street,won't even make garden paths.Humiliated–petals circle peoniesafter stormy nights.Your voice on the phone sobbing,you cannot recall the wind.How many colorscan green be on rolling hillsin southern summers?Family reunion season,relatives I've never metKneel at the altarher white foliage flowingmy eternal rose.Fragrant summer eveningsspent remembering springtime.
candlelight dancesjubilant in the deep darkwinter reflections white hot light of your embrace stamped on the walls of my soul
tertiary robedescends in spiraling ebbsweightless boughs beckonsweet bombastic eulogyas harvest ashes rustle
the rains let upnight has a damp earth smellwith an edge of starmoon sits on a high branchI write you in her soft light
spring arrivesat a leisurely pacea slow unbuddingmy getting to know youcharms companionship
revelations as she crawlsinto the bednaked smiling and wet -my flat caphanging on the post
the wishing wellher eyes steadfastly offer,each time my heartsuggests the body or itselfseeks consent, rewards them both~
you're ice mountain meltfrothed rush over tumbled stonescrowding discardedtwigs hard against roots exposedmesmerizing; in I plunge
My world has hardenedto platinum and crystal:frost-bleached. But for you,love, my thoughts are blue. Feathersplucked from the wing of a jay.
Wrapped within dusk wingsCoiling tight, biting, slowlybecoming clawed bonesAnother carcass for crowsfeeding where kisses once lay
a single oak straddlesthe crest of an ancient moundsheet lightning callsstretching skyward arms mimicmy heart pounds as thunder rolls
spineless sharecropperantediluvian choresweave chambers of lifewithin soft wet coffee grindsbirthing a cascade of blooms
Issue 1
Poets in this issue
- Bobby Aldridge1
- Angelo Ancheta1
- Kim Anguiano1
- Lewis Baxter1
- Judy Beaston1
- Chrystal Berche1
- Mandy Brown1
- Heather Browne1
- Cathy Bryant1
- Stu Buck1
- William Burkholder2
- Janet Butler2
- Colin W. Campbell1
- Jay Cates1
- Jesus Chameleon1
- Grace Hughes Chappell3
- Charmaine Chircop1
- David Edwards1
- Genevieve Fitzgerald1
- Tim Gardiner1
- Melvina Germain1
- Mary Gunn1
- Chris Gusek1
- Deborah Guzzi2
- C. Z. Heyward2
- Timothy Hicks1
- Carly Holmes1
- B.T Joy1
- Christina Kapp1
- Herb Kauderer1
- Teddy Kimathi1
- Catherine B. Krause1
- Lily Li1
- Dennis Lowe2
- Marieta Maglas1
- Grady Manus1
- Mickey Murphy1
- Dani Norman1
- Kasha Nystrand1
- Linda Bonney Olin2
- Sergio Ortiz1
- Al Ortolani1
- Melissa Patterson1
- Robert Penven3
- Christa Planko2
- Lee Prosser1
- Maryam Qureshi1
- Goran Rahim1
- Jackie Maugh Robinson1
- Clarise Samuels3
- Adam Sprague1
- Nells Wasilewski2
- Spiros Zafiris1