February 2026
Tom Clausen, editor
All aboard for travels near and far in 73 tanka that provide a wonderful range of experiences and memories in five lines down. Growing up, I was fortunate to go cross-country with my family several times, and it instilled a strong love of travel. What I recognized in editing this issue is that no matter how far or how often you travel, each time you are likely to treasure seeing the world from a new point of view, as well as finding a new world within you. A deep bow of gratitude to each of you who submitted tanka! Enjoy this excursion and, as Bashō wrote in his haibun travel diary, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, “Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”
Tom Clausen
a fox
dashes across the highway
safely
we continue in silence
our dawn drive to the airport
Ruth Holzer
Potomac Falls, Virginia
alone on a train
trying to peer
into the future . . .
the Columbia River turns
into fog
Jacob D. Salzer
Camas, Washington
a golden sunset
cloaks the commuter’s ride
on Phraya River
noise dissolves as my eyes
enter the silence of each temple
Rita R. Melissano
Rock Island, Illinois
moonlight
on the desolate ocean
the women
across the aisle
chat melodiously
Shawn Blair
Cohoes, New York
watching her train
disappear
on the horizon
a study
in perspective
Rick Jackofsky
Rocky Point, New York
above the bay
a long-haul jet heads out
across the Pacific—
an unknown payload
of human hopes and fears
Elaine Riddell
Hamilton, New Zealand
holding your hand
37,000 feet
above the blue
if this plane crashed
what would our last thoughts be?
Dennis Owen Frohlich
Catawissa, Pennsylvania
seaside train trip
to my childhood hometown
with eyes closed
and the window ajar
I breathe in, and breathe out . . .
Chen-ou Liu
Ajax, Ontario
fragrant air
above the chamomile field
the willows hold sway
as the train with soldiers
at the windows passes by
Senka Slivar
Pakrac, Croatia
a boy
dearly taking care of
his big shopping bag
on the return highway bus,
midnight from Tokyo
Kazuaki Wakui
Shibata-shi, Japan
dusty all-day
local to Vera Cruz
a grizzled farmer
his rooster in a crate
sits down beside me
Susan Weaver
Allentown, Pennsylvania
his beaming face
and wide-open eyes
first train ride
I hope all his life
journeys are as joyful
Julie Thorndyke
Sydney, Australia
Hannibal, Missouri
on a Mississippi river cruise
remembering
Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn
I pictured it differently as a child
Robert Erlandson
Birmingham, Michigan
Jersey Turnpike
in a rental car
with no EZPass
I swerve across six lanes
with a satchel of quarters
Peter Larsen
Lake View Terrace, California
time travelling
with the widow
across the aisle
married twice
but only one sweetheart
Steve Black
Reading, United Kingdom
Curacao island
this scent of saltwater
off Sofea’s bow
balmy wind on the island
greets us as we step ashore
an'ya
Port Orford, Oregon
we missed each other
at the crowded ferry
you crossed to Wales
I spent the night on the dock
made tea for some Dublin bums
Wilson Martin
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
the last mile
to Union Station
the back side alleys
of broken promises
and dreams
Randy Brooks
Taylorville, Illinois
all-night bus
Kathmandu to Benares
hens, goats, incense . . .
five a.m., the ghats
sun rising over the Ganga
Jennifer Read Hawthorne
Vero Beach, Florida
empty space between
the remaining sarsen stones
older than Stonehenge
the sun that casts my shadow
across the gravel walkway
Barbara Mosbacher Anderson
Northfield, Minnesota
outback trip . . .
smiling as I watch
my daughter
plotting constellations
and the moon’s phases
Marilyn Humbert
Sydney, Australia
an endless queue
at the embassy gates
in black snow
I break obi-non
with strangers
Jenny Polstra
Waikato, New Zealand
luxury resort:
touting for a tip
my waiter
sweeps away the crumbs
I’d left for the pigeons
Amelia Fielden
Wollongong, Australia
in a dusty album
what we shared long ago,
our trip to Paris—
on the moonlit River Seine
you wrote a song of love
Marion Alice Poirier
Boston, Massachusetts
taxi ride
to Shibuya
for the first time
practicing a new language
the driver takes the long way
C. Jean Downer
White Rock, British Columbia
in this coffee shop
all the tour groups
who scheduled Anmok Beach
on the day
it rained
Kristyn Blessing
Menomonie, Wisconsin
family picnics
in the mountains
at midnight
the happy sounds of freedom
on our trip to Tehran
Kathabela Wilson
Pasadena, California
Rishikesh nights
the sky darkens
into nothingness
torn intermittently by
bells in praise of deities
Rupa Anand
New Delhi, India
not visiting
the Gugong Museum
while in Taipei
I wasted my travels
in smoky night clubs
Jackie Chou
Pico Rivera, California
spires
puncture the disconsolate
blue
crossing Flanders
a windmill in the distance
Patricia Nellene Deal
McLean, Virginia
Glyndebourne . . .
men in dinner suits,
ladies in long skirts
swish past
rows of hollyhocks
Dawn Bruce
Sydney, Australia
moving to Mexico
my old therapist’s
parting words
I’ve got a few hurrahs
left in me yet
Cynthia Anderson
Yucca Valley, California
I love you
Imodium . . .
how many times
have you saved me
in exotic places
Gerry Jacobson
Canberra, Australia
no man says Donne
is an island
people flow around me
as I stare
at strange sights
Simon Wilson
Peterborough, United Kingdom
the postcards
and colorful jumble
of stamps . . .
the way I know what’s
capturing her heart
Sally Biggar
Topsham, Maine
lunch hour trip
bicycle ride on the levee road
the sudden flight
of a red-tailed hawk
seen from above
Lyle Smith
West Sacramento, California
the trail
to Pastoruri glacier
is longer
the many views
of climate change
Jon Hare
Falmouth, Massachusetts
Cook Islands dive trip
swimming to the lip
of the atoll
I pause to watch eagle rays
and peer into the abyss
Terri Thorfinnson
West Sacramento, California
mountain pass ahead
fog coils around the pine trees
each step rises slow
the valley opens beneath
clouds drifting like soft rivers
R Krishnakumar
Pondicherry, India
Banzai Pipeline
Hawaii’s wild North Shore
experienced
yet still I wiped out
coral reef scars go home with me
Charles Harmon
Los Angeles, California
holiday over—
at the end of a marathon
bike ride
the high country clouds
zigzag into the sky
Jenny Fraser
Mount Maunganai, New Zealand
my youth hitchhiking
America’s highways
sans destinations
and no hurry
to get anywhere
John Budan
Newberg, Oregon
a large dark green
mountain lake flows between
Mt. Baker and Shuksan
i paddle my kayak
never seem to get closer
Roy Kindelberger
Burlington, Washington
May sprinkles—
a snail’s slow progress
beneath the toadstool . . .
our cosmic probing
a blind struggle toward stars
Anna Cates
Wilmington, Ohio
traveling daily
to my landscape deep within
sitting in silence
welcoming what arises
discovering peace inside
Karen Lazarus
Brooklyn, New York
we pause
on the plaza a moment
so much had to happen
it starts to feel like
more than coincidence
Tim Cremin
Andover, Massachusetts
I went to ’Frisco
to see the beat poets
then surprised
when a tourist asked me
to strike a pose
Michael Flanagan
Woodbury, Minnesota
to a distant land
or around the corner
your smile
renews my spirit
for another day
Laurance Sumners
Lufkin, Texas
setting out
with only a ticket
and one suitcase
I return somehow lighter
threaded with Diwali
Joanna Ashwell
Barnard Castle, United Kingdom
magic
inside an ancient yew
in Wales
a tiny English robin
follows us
Carole Johnston
Lexington, Kentucky
in the breeze
a puff of dandelions
passes me by . . .
how I envy them,
the gypsies of the skies
Keitha Keyes
Sydney, Australia
ready
for an adventure
I try
to slip in the hole
after Alice
Susan Burch
Hagerstown, Maryland
here I am
feeling homesick
after
the long genetic travel
from mitochondrial Eve
Mari Konno
Fukui, Japan
it seems to be
a long, circuitous route . . .
a detour here
a scenic drive there
before the honest answer
Michele L. Harvey
Hamilton, New York
not to discourage
you about getting older
travel is harder
best to drink lots of coffee
take slippers and jammies
Doug Profitt
Middletown, Ohio
in the sunroom
mending in the chair
I travel west
through the glass ceiling
with the river of clouds
Tim Dwyer
Bangor, Northern Ireland / Brooklyn, New York
colourful
old postcards forgotten
in a bottom drawer
my first trip overseas . . .
bright days, lonely nights
Margi Abraham
Sydney, Australia
why didn’t I stop
to photograph the red barn
on the green hilltop
brightened by sunlight despite
a black cloudbank backdrop?
Andrew Lansdown
Dianella, Australia
an appaloosa
canters along the ridge
one taste
of sagebrush wind is all
it takes to carry me home
Debbie Strange
Winnipeg, Manitoba
with the walking stick
you gave me before you left
I write a love poem
on the still water
of a lonely mountain lake
Michael Dylan Welch
Sammamish, Washington
post-pandemic return
to my childhood home—
gone the climbing tree
our old red barn
the house I knew so well
Edward J. Rielly
Westbrook, Maine
we snuggle
in the back seat
of grandpa’s truck
turning heads at every bend
field upon field of tulips
Bonnie J Scherer
Palmer, Alaska
Sunday road trip
along the mountain pass
breathtaking view
my old dog’s jowls
flap in the breeze
Margaret Tau
New Bern, North Carolina
faced on the train
with receding scenes . . .
the white pony
I wanted
long ago
Betsy Hearne
Urbana, Illinois
driving through
a balmy sunset
of Brooklyn neighborhoods . . .
a hundred microworlds
settling down to rest
David Chandler
Chicago, Illinois
Old Uncle’s calling out
flag stop after flag stop . . .
no point telling him
the bush train no longer runs . . .
he’s going home
Louisa Howerow
London, Ontario
I know every street
but walk them as a guest now
windows reflect
a smaller version of me
moving more quickly
John Tehan
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
the city
by the dry riverbed
was home
so empty of memories now
Mohenjo-daro
Suraja Menon Roychowdhury
Lexington, Massachusetts
driving up
La Bajada Hill
in winter dark
Orion seems further away
than in summer
Miriam Sagan
Santa Fe, New Mexico
at mother’s home
after a bus ride
from Warsaw to Lviv—
amid the ruins
her mailbox still unopened
Shiva Bhusal
Bellevue, Washington
hilly fields
tilled & planted
down this road
so many goodbyes
we never said
LeRoy Gorman
Napanee, Ontario
the meander
through my mind
going in circles
the maze always leads
to my long-ago home
Peggy Hale Bilbro
Huntsville, Alabama
he says
you’re the best thing that
happened to me
a golden moonglade
spreads over the sea
Nitu Yumnam
Ajman, United Arab Emirates