Poetic Musings: Question Mark Tanka by André Surridge

the old woman
with a walking stick
bent over
her daughter's grave
like a question mark

Ash Moon Anthology, 2008

André Surridge

Commentary: Ls 1-3 tell readers the subject of  the tanka, an old woman  like many we have seen in our daily life, but L4 makes a sudden shift of theme and mood, turning a picture of old age into a "portrait of grief." And through the simile in L5, the tanka  "reverberates with the anguish of "Why?", effectively capturing one of the saddest moments in one's life with the breathtaking beauty of  words (pp.17-8, Take Five:Best Contemporary Tanka, II, 2009)

A Room of My Own: Revelations

a haiku set for Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish who returned to the stage yesterday to perform Revelations.

When you're younger, you have everything - you have the flexibility, you have no fear. But you don't savor every step, every movement of every fingertip, every beat of the music. I feel like I'm tasting food for the first time.

--Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish on dancing Alvin Ailey's Revelations again at age 55.

the new year begins

with the same rising sun...

me in the mirror

(Serbian Translation

pocinje Nova Godina
s istim izlazecim suncem…
ja u ogledalu

New Year Haiku, Diogen, January 1 2014)

New Year's morning dew...

old age happened to me

yesterday

Note: This short film (02:50), Returning to the Stage, At 55, directed by Natalia V. Osipova, tells a riveting story about a former Alvin Ailey superstar and a current artificial-hip owner, Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, who returns to the stage to perform Revelations, the company's best-known work.

One Man's Maple Moon: Story Tanka by Merle Connolly

English Original

the old man
his winter very close
needs time
to rearrange his story -
suitable for grandchildren

Ribbons, 8:2, Fall 2012

Merle Connolly


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

這位老人
人生冬天已近
需要時間
重新安排他的故事
以便適合他的孫子們

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

这位老人
人生冬天已近
需要时间
重新安排他的故事
以便适合他的孙子们


Bio sketch

An older contributor,  Merle Connolly enjoys writing tanka and finds it a very rewarding way of expressing thoughts in a few lines.  There is much to learn about the genre and its origin in Japan many years ago. Merle Connolly has had tanka published in Eucalypt, Grevillea & Wonga Vine, Take Five Vol. 4, Ribbons, Kokako, Moonbathing, Red Lights and Gusts.