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VOLUME 2: ISSUE 3
NOVEMBER 2002
WHCshortverses - Sedoka, Tanka/ Waka
Sedoka & Tanka Selections
Debi Bender, Editor
Sedoka
Softly, the clouds slip
away from an azure sky
above Saint Mark's Church graveyard
an angel loiters
beneath a plum tree in bloom
petals fall on wings of stone.
In the summer heat --
only a sheer slip between
her nakedness and my touch;
green silk leaves flutter
as she turns to come to me,
they gently caress her curves.
Tanka
this morning
after the first autumn rains
a widower
slowly opens his windows
to the wet scent of leaves
extending
long white thorns
the cactus
under a fallen branch
guards against my touch
heavy traffic
on the city's freeways
tailgating
this endless flow of thoughts
that never gives me rest
a rainy day
I scribble many poems
new ideas
fill the wastebasket
fly across the room
more tired
than ever before
I contemplate
the rest of my life
-- with no energy
a bite of chill wind
and the lingering summer
together at last
no finer bittersweetness
than an end to september
at rest from its flight
the swallowtail's wings touch
together briefly
just as this space between us
never before existed
sultry evening
watching steamy movies
she snuggles to him
their marital row
all but forgotten
picturesque oak
the poise of the bag man
sitting on the boulder --
my calm demeanor
also a lie
the suave fellow
getting his hair permed --
does he not know
about the coffee stains
on his crisp white trousers?
the voice on the machine
so like your voice --
not otherworldly
as I would expect
from a man long buried
The morning sun
Glows on Queen Anne's Lace
Bleaching its paleness --
My heart learns little by little
To let go of darkness.
So sweet,
The taste of blackberries
In this dream;
No matter how light the touch
A stain remains on the soul.
A packet of seeds
strewn after the first rainfall
on an empty field.
I return with rake and hoe
to cultivate my garden.
my humble abode
wrought and wired
this basket
from precious hands long gone
grandad's face etched in memory
evening
from the windchimes no sound
trees still
pillow fight ended
exhausted children sleep
no stars
lights from houses
illuminate
the mountains
a poem penned
the child's room-
paper lanterns
crushed
underneath
a baseball glove
the first night
he got drunk
and wrote a beautiful poem-
now, bottles on the floor
he writes nothing
studying the recipes
my nostrils fill
with the scents
of duck soup
and vegetable broth
trophy room-
watching myself
cross the path
of a deer's
marble eyes
Symbiotic - Linked Tanka and Modern Waka Selections
Debi Bender, Editor
Tanka
Tanka series: children
no wood for the fire
just junk mail and old papers
outside, the wind blows
there's nothing good on tv
but still, my daughter dances
"momma-look at me!"
the wooden floor now a stage
my daughter laughs, leaps
her black hair in dissaray
the crescent moons of her eyes
hands over their ears
the girls hide beneath covers
frightened of thunder
"just listen", their mothers say
raindrops on the giant palm
Modern Waka
Rising towards fullness
In summer twilight's heat --
This moon;
Will it shine as brightly
On my gray hair as the fawn's spots?
........................................Donna
The half moon,
half-hidden among
silver clouds--
these gray hairs, also,
portending the night.
........................................kit
Only a full moon
Reveals the luna moth
And its shadow;
Does its beauty exist too
In the blinding darkness?
........................................Donna
A wood fire
burning through the night --
the full moon
captures my dreams
as the flame does the moth.
........................................Richard
Thin smoke
Wafts towards the morning sun --
These dreams
Float on the dragonfly's wings...
Up, down, back, forth in the wind.
........................................Donna
Gathering dusk;
a robin flits from the trellis
in the garden--
an afterglow of feathers
the only remains of day.
........................................Maria
All that's left
of those long ago twilights --
the memory
of fireflies appearing
in the deeper dusk of trees.
........................................Suzanne
Evening haze --
only the mewl of a cat,
in heat
of midsummer dusk
the crescent moon rises.
........................................Richard
Beyond the haze,
The Western twilight
Deepening its hue;
The fierceness of summer storms
Prepares me for autumn's chill.
........................................Donna
A crack of lightning
shattering the evening calm--
the pattering of rain
which follows the thunder
brings a chill to the air.
........................................Richard
No breeze this dark night,
only the blazing of stars--
Such silence
across this moonless sky
draws me into dreamless sleep.
........................................paul
Heartbeats...
counting the moments
this quiet night--
the sky is as empty
as this longing heart.
........................................Richard
The cicada,
Before its crescendo,
Winding up--
I count my prayers
To shed this loneliness.
........................................Donna
Evening cool:
a lone cricket chirrs
so slowly--
we rub our legs together
in silent harmony.
........................................Richard
Behind the oak tree
a yellow moon fills the sky
with whispers tonight--
in this space of glowing leaves
I shall hold you ever close.
........................................Maria
Participants:
Christopher Baskind (kit), Florida, USA
Paul Cooper, New York, USA
Donna Ferrell, Ohio, USA
Suzanne Finnegan, USA
Richard St. Clair, Massachusetts, USA
Maria Steyn, Johannesburg, RSA
WHCshortverses - Symbiotic Linked Tanka & Waka
hortensia anderson, New York, USA:
hortensia anderson, New York, USA:
Maria Steyn, Johannesburg, RSA:
Maria Steyn, Johannesburg, RSA:
Kirsty Karkow, Maine, USA:
Kirsty Karkow, Maine, USA:
Kirsty Karkow, Maine, USA:
an'ya, Oregon USA:
an'ya, Oregon USA:
Victor P. Gendrano, California, USA:
Elizabeth Howard, Tennessee, USA:
Elizabeth Howard, Tennessee, USA:
Elizabeth Howard, Tennessee, USA:
Donna Ferrell, Ohio, USA
Donna Ferrell, Ohio, USA
Anita Wintz, California, USA:
Gillena Cox, Trinidad, WI:
Gillena Cox, Trinidad, WI:
Gillena Cox, Trinidad, WI:
Michael Meyerhofer, Iowa, USA:
Michael Meyerhofer, Iowa, USA:
Michael Meyerhofer, Iowa, USA:
Michael Meyerhofer, Iowa, USA:
semi (Terrie Relf), California, USA
A Summer Sequence
Note: Tanka is the contemporary form of the classic Japanese waka
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