tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786207835641480928.post3745321266195923613..comments2024-03-27T11:10:57.384-04:00Comments on NeverEnding Story: One Man's Maple Moon: Sea Star Tanka by Lesley Anne SwansonChen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐http://www.blogger.com/profile/06235248170011255532noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786207835641480928.post-65302636678777775342015-11-19T10:41:15.500-05:002015-11-19T10:41:15.500-05:00"I was very drawn to several but with the lac..."I was very drawn to several but with the lack of a proper tanka shape I regretfully had to lay them aside."<br /><br />Modeled on traditional Japanese tanka, this heartfelt poem is made up of five poetic phrases (equivalent to five ku of 5-7-5-7-7) and structured into two parts with L3 as a pivot. Strategically speaking, through a pivot on the unexpected (L3) to uncover the socio-geographical aspect, Lesley’s tanka effectively builds, phrase/line (ku) by phrase/line (ku), to an socio-emotionally powerful ending that has the most weight. And on a second reading, the "sea star" in the poem carries analogical significance.Chen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐https://www.blogger.com/profile/06235248170011255532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786207835641480928.post-37217008374620561172015-11-19T10:32:18.755-05:002015-11-19T10:32:18.755-05:00Below is excerpted from the judge's (Jane Reic...Below is excerpted from the judge's (Jane Reichhold's) comment:<br /><br />In my making my piles of poems to consider for the prizes, there was one with all the poems relating to earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand. These were very touching as they found first one way and then another to express loss and sadness. I was very drawn to several but with the lack of a proper tanka shape I regretfully had to lay them aside.Chen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐https://www.blogger.com/profile/06235248170011255532noreply@blogger.com