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New Form? Linked Tanka and Haiku!
I was happy to publish this sequence by Mariko Kitakubo and Deborah Kolodji in the linked forms section of Under the Basho, hopefully they won't mind my posting it here, I was hoping we could have some discussion on it. I think it really works well and is an excellent example of strong tanka in English, and an interesting experiment with what could be a new form if other people pick it up and try to play around with it. Mariko is a tanka poet predominantly, and Deborah a haijin, so them sticking to their respective strengths gives the sequence a nice call and response feel. It's unique and appealing to me. I hope some of you are inspired to try doing linked sequences between tanka and haiku, it has a very different feel from normal linked verse, but a lot of possibilities, I would say.
Distance 2020
ruins
of Tokyo appear
in my dream . . .
a storm coming through
verdant freshness
heat lightning
the faces of those
I love
searching
for my favorite
earring . . .
voices in
an empty shell
volunteer tomatoes
the way my life
used to be
sun whispers
to my wings
where
is the rainbow
after green showers
darker skies
and yet . . . tadpoles
in the puddles
handful
of unfinished lives
we were
born from water
undying melody
distant galaxies
the infinite music
of stars
a comet
brought me
the memory
of blue inlet
before my birth
shaky first steps
a baby’s
mine after surgery
when and
how many times
reborn anew
swimming
in the Milky Way
a ray of dawn
across my pillow. . .
birdsong
after
the long darkness
prayers
are falling—
resurrection horizon
empty churches
we hold virtual hands
in online meetings
Mariko Kitakubo
Deborah P Kolodji
Distance 2020
ruins
of Tokyo appear
in my dream . . .
a storm coming through
verdant freshness
heat lightning
the faces of those
I love
searching
for my favorite
earring . . .
voices in
an empty shell
volunteer tomatoes
the way my life
used to be
sun whispers
to my wings
where
is the rainbow
after green showers
darker skies
and yet . . . tadpoles
in the puddles
handful
of unfinished lives
we were
born from water
undying melody
distant galaxies
the infinite music
of stars
a comet
brought me
the memory
of blue inlet
before my birth
shaky first steps
a baby’s
mine after surgery
when and
how many times
reborn anew
swimming
in the Milky Way
a ray of dawn
across my pillow. . .
birdsong
after
the long darkness
prayers
are falling—
resurrection horizon
empty churches
we hold virtual hands
in online meetings
Mariko Kitakubo
Deborah P Kolodji
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