One Man's Maple Moon: Cold Light Tanka by Sonam Chhoki

English Original

throbbing headache

blinds drawn against the dawn

I picture

in the rise and fall of notes

birds flitting in the cold light

A Hundred Gourds, 1:4,  September 2012 

Sonam Chhoki 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

劇烈的頭痛

並把窗簾緊閉以阻擋黎明

我彷彿看到

在聲調的起伏中

鳥兒飛掠冷光

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

剧烈的头痛

并把窗帘紧闭以阻挡黎明

我仿佛看到

在声调的起伏中

鸟儿飞掠冷光

Bio Sketch

Sonam Chhoki finds the Japanese short form poetry resonates with her Tibetan Buddhist upbringing.  She is inspired by her father, Sonam Gyamtsho, the architect of Bhutan's non-monastic modern education and by her mother, Chhoden Jangmu, who taught her: “Being a girl doesn’t mean you can’t do anything.” She is the principal editor, and co-editor of haibun for the United Haiku and Tanka Society journal, cattails.

A Room of My Own: Sweat-and-Tears Life Tanka

another

mid-sentence silence

this muggy noon

our thoughts of returning

to sweat-and-tears yet sure life

Added:

cubicle glass

the stare of my eyes

the stare of my eyes

FYI: This could be read as a sequel to my haiku below:

a fly battering

at my cubicle window

this 9-to-5 job

Haiku in Action, Weekly Prompt:"Primordial Fears," July 2nd-6th  2025

Added:

in giant letters

think outside the box

on the wall

of this newbie's cubicle 

on my wall, actions speak louder

Added:

After three years of walking my boss's bulldog, I imagine all I can imagine and then keep on going.

corner glass cubicle

new self growing larger

with afternoon light

One Man's Maple Moon: Golden Ripples Tanka by Brian Zimmer

English Original

casting his line

into the golden ripples

of the setting sun

he catches nothing today

but a basket full of peace

Gusts, 19, Spring/Summer 2014

Brian Zimmer

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

將魚線拋入

一波波金色漣漪

的夕陽中

他今天一無所獲

卻滿載著寧靜

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

将鱼线抛入

一波波金色涟漪

的夕阳中

他今天一无所获

却满载着宁静

Bio Sketch

Brian Zimmer was an American poet who wrote from the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri. Published across a variety of international print and online journals, his work was heavily inspired by classical Japanese forms, particularly the poetic-diary (utanikki) and the free-form poetic essay (zuihitsu).

A Room of My Own: Stonehenge Tanka

a full moon

between the sarsen stones 

of Stonehenge

one silhouette ghosting

across the gravel path

Added:

a thrum of rain

on the old van skylight 

in a parking lot

I murmur, the life I dreamed

yet the life I'm living

Added:

flash after flash

of midnight lightning

my dream and I

rippling

in the vodka glass

Added:

words are only air

dissolving as they are said ...

yet my chest tightens

as if I’ve swallowed a rock

lodged beneath my breath

Added:

belief is a bridge

built across surging waters...

yet my shaking hands

cannot find the wooden rail

to the altar in dim light

Added:

emigration eve

the last notes

of Home Sweet Home

fading once more

into this moonless stillness

One Man's Maple Moon: Old Lullaby Tanka by Daniela Misso

English Original

a whole day

listening to the wind

among green leaves ...

at night, an old lullaby

emerges in me

Cattails, October 2021

Daniela Misso

Chinese Translation (Traditional) 

一整天

聆聽綠葉間

的風聲 ...

夜裡, 一首古老的搖籃曲

在我心中浮現

Chinese Translation (Simplified) 

一整天

聆听绿叶间

的风声 ...

夜里, 一首古老的摇篮曲

在我心中浮现

Bio Sketch

Daniela Misso is a retired schoolteacher and  a winner of numerous national and international competitions. She has published extensively in leading magazines dedicated to the genre. She is the author of Connessioni Sottili (FusibiliaLibri, 2021) and Ciliegi in fiore (Edizioni Accademia Barbanera, 2023).

A Room of My Own: First Summer Rain Tanka

(

"Israel's oldest daily, Haaretz," which was was sanctioned by the Israeli government on Nov. 24, 2024

Daniel Blatman, Opinion, August 24, 2026: From Armenia to Gaza: The Language of Denial That Makes Atrocities Possible

From Nazi 'language rules' to the American military's 'collateral damage' and Israel's 'voluntary migration' policy for Gaza, euphemisms do more than conceal crimes. They allow ordinary people to live with them

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCCV: "headlines"

headline after headline

of situation, event

and incident ...

body parts on the blood-stained floor

of a half-flattened classroom

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCCVI: "neu-tra-li-za-tion"

neu-tra-li-za-tion

a new recruit mouths

with a middle finger —

a gray-haired Gazan's back

pockmarked with bullets

FYI: Below is a relevant excerpt:

In 1947, two years after the collapse of the regime that had threatened his life, the German Jewish philologist Victor Klemperer published a short book titled "The Language of the Third Reich" ("Lingua Tertii Imperii"). Klemperer, who escaped extermination because he was married to a non-Jewish woman, did not write about extermination camps or SS death squads. He wrote about words.

Nazism, he argued, penetrated society not only through speeches and posters in the streets, but primarily through expressions that people unwittingly internalized, like tiny doses of poison entering the bloodstream. Individual words, expressions and syntactic patterns were imposed on the masses through millions of repetitions, then adopted mechanically and unconsciously. The poison, he wrote, does not act immediately. It accumulates....

The Israeli media now has a complete, efficient and polished lexicon designed to implant euphemistic descriptions of the state's crimes in the minds of Israelis. Mass killing in Gaza falls under the heading of "operational activity." The destruction of entire neighborhoods becomes "mowing the lawn" or "flattening," images borrowed from gardening and construction. A targeted airstrike that kills dozens of innocent people is described as a "thwarting" or "neutralization," terms from the world of intelligence that imply the prevention of some greater evil. An area that continues to be bombed, such as Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, is called a "humanitarian zone." And when it becomes clear that uninvolved civilians, including children, have been killed, passive formulations take over: "were killed during an operation," "lost their lives," "fatalities were reported." ...

This is precisely what the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu meant by "symbolic violence." It is not a lie that someone decided to sell or an instruction handed down from above, but a set of categories of thought internalized so deeply that both the person doing the classifying and the person being classified accept them as natural. A news editor who writes "hikers" or "terrorists" does not feel that they are choosing a word. They feel that they are describing reality. That is the power of symbolic violence. It requires no administrative enforcement because it is already embedded in our vocabulary.

Added: Against the Drowning Noise of Other Words, CCCVIII: "torn pieces of Star of David"

asleep

on torn pieces of Star of David

a stray 

The New Yorker, July 28, 2025: Israel’s Zones of Denial

Amid national euphoria over the bombing of Iran—and the largely ignored devastation in Gaza—a question lurks: What is the country becoming?

Added: Realm of Contagious Stupidity, III

he hides “files”

sleeps through meetings, yells be quiet

trades stocks and golfs:

this ball-size-brained con man smirks

behind the Resolute Desk

)

a child's hand 

outside the car window

to touch

the first summer rain ...

bumper to bumper to Exit

Added:

a midnight moon

glints in the skylight

turning once more

I listen to her breathing

as the night stretches on

Added:

packing

and unpacking my suitcases

for three hours —

this life without my love

yet still within my love

Added:

we all move on

then the story carries us —

still I stand still

at the bend of her street

hearing her door close

Added:

home from vacation

it takes three moonless nights

for my heart and mind

to adjust to living

in a room of my echoes

One Man's Maple Moon: Sorrow Tanka by Michael McClintock

English Original

knowing sorrow

won’t go sailing

or for a swim

I take a long walk

to the cliffs and back

      

First Place, 2012 San Francisco International Haiku, Senryu, and Tanka Contest

Michael McClintock

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

深知悲傷

不會出海航行

也不會去游泳

我選擇長途步行

走到懸崖邊再走回來

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

深知悲伤

不会出海航行

也不会去游泳

我选择长途步行

走到悬崖边再走回来

Bio Sketch

Michael McClintock's lifework in haiku, tanka, and related literature spanned over four decades. His many contributions to the field included six years as president of the Tanka Society of America (2004-2010) and contributing editor, essayist, and poet for dozens of journals, anthologies, landmark collections and critical studies. McClintock lived in Clovis, California, where he worked as an independent scholar, consultant for public libraries, and poet. Meals at Midnight [tanka], Sketches from the San Joaquin [haiku] and Streetlights: Poetry of Urban Life in Modern English Tanka, were some of his recent titles.

One Man's Maple Moon: Mother's Womb Tanka by Pamela A. Babusci

English Original

floating inside

my mother's womb

for nine months —

how little she

understood me

Honorable Mention, Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest, 2026

Pamela A. Babusci

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

漂浮

在我母親的子宮裡

九個月之久—

她對我是多麼地

不了解啊

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

漂浮

在我母亲的子宫里

九个月之久—

她对我是多么地

不了解啊

 

Bio Sketch

Pamela A. Babusci  is an internationally award winning haiku, tanka poet and haiga artist. Some of her awards include: Museum of Haiku Literature Award, International Tanka Splendor Awards, First Place Yellow Moon Competition (Aust) tanka category,  First Place Kokako Tanka Competition,(NZ) First Place Saigyo Tanka Awards (US), Basho Festival Haiku Contests (Japan).  Pamela has illustrated several books, including: Full Moon Tide: The Best of Tanka Splendor Awards, Taboo Haiku, Chasing the Sun, Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka, and A Thousand Reasons 2009. Pamela was the founder and now is the solo Editor of Moonbathing: a journal of women’s tanka; the first all women’s tanka journal in the US.

One Man's Maple Moon: Warbled Songs Tanka by Thelma Mariano

English Original

from the river's edge

a blend of warbled songs

highs and lows

the harmony we share

despite different notes

Thelma Mariano

 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

來自河邊

婉轉的歌聲交織融合

有高亢與低沉

儘管音符不同

我們卻共享和諧

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

来自河边

婉转的歌声交织融合

有高亢与低沉

尽管音符不同

我们却共享和谐

Bio Sketch

Thelma Mariano is the author of Night Sky: a Selection of Tanka Poetry. She lives in Montreal and has published her tanka in literary journals as well as in various anthologies including Fire Pearls and Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka.

Poetic Musings: Cosmetics Tanka by Margaret Chula

those half-used tubes

of her cosmetics

why did I keep them?

rubbing in face cream

I feel my mother’s bones

Winter Deepens, 2018

Margaret Chula

Commentary: Ls 1&2, "those half-used tubes / of her cosmetics," establish a concrete, physical scene. The detail of being "half-used" effectively implies a sudden interruption and lingering absence without explicitly stating them.

L3, "why did I keep them?," shifts the tanka from external observation to internal self-questioning. This rhetorical question creates a psychological pause before the emotional climax. It perfectly mirrors the erratic nature of grief, where a mundane thought about an object is suddenly overtaken by deep emotional recognition.

The final movementin Ls 4&5, "rubbing in face cream / I feel my mother’s bones," delivers an unexpectedly visceral conclusion. By blending tactile sensation with memory, the action fuses the speaker's body with the mother's presence. The word "bones" operates on multiple levels, simultaneously evoking mortality, aging, and genetic inheritance.

One Man's Maple Moon: Eerie Summer Tanka by Fumi Saito

English Original

a bullet was fired

in the center of his forehead

yet his face

still moving as it haunts

this eerie summer!

White Letter Poems, 1998

Fumi Saito

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一顆子彈射入

他的額頭正中央

然而他的臉

卻依然在動, 它一直縈繞

這個詭異的夏天!

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一颗子弹射入

他的额头正中央

然而他的脸

却依然在动, 它一直萦绕

这个诡异的夏天!

 

 

Bio Sketch

Daughter of a military officer who was noted for his verse-writing talent, Fumi Saito began writing poetry in the traditional 31-syllable tanka form in her early teens. Her first book of tanka, Fish Songs, published in 1940, immediately established her as a brilliant young poet. She was inducted into the Japan Art Academy in 1993 and invited to serve as meshiudo (a position similar to the Poet Laureate's) at the Imperial Palace in 1997.

One Man's Maple Moon: Skeleton Keys Tanka by Joanna Ashwell

English Original

skeleton keys

in a mirror glinting

at a doorway —

the transparency of rain

reconfigures our view

Joanna Ashwell

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

萬能鑰匙

在門口側邊鏡子中

閃閃發光 —

雨水的通透性

重塑我們的視野

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

万能钥匙

在门口侧边镜子中

闪闪发光 —

雨水的通透性

重塑我们的视野

 

Bio Sketch

Joanna Ashwell a short form poetry writer from the UK.  Published widely in many print and online journals.  She has been shortlisted for the Touchstone Award, has won awards and has served on the selection team for the Canadian tanka journal GUSTS.  Some of her poetry collections are available on Amazon.  River Lanterns, won the honorary Cherita award.  Moonset Song, Love’s Scriptures and Every Star (Tanka), Book Patronus (haiku & tanka) are also available on Amazon. 

A Room of My Own: Gliding Kayaks Tanka

gliding kayaks ...

ripple after ripple

overlapping

summer stars that bridge

what words never could

Added:

the time it takes

for my aging beagle

to close his eyes—

crumbled dog-treat pieces

left in my jean pocket

FYI: My tanka below could be read as its sequel:

my neighbor’s dog

hit by a red sports car ...

after our walk

she tells me she sees

his shape in the clouds

Bright Stars, VI, 2014

Added:

one tide cycle

after another and another

across the Pacific 

pulling out, returning anew ...

my heart still on the other shore

Added:

to stay or to go

I murmur to myself

again and again 

through the autumn wind 

each leaf zigzags its way down

Added:

all things must pass,

the seasons teach me this —

yet I still press

my face into her lingerie

forgotten in the basket

One Man's Maple Moon: Geraniums Tanka by Marion Alice Poirier

English Original

on the porch

Dad's geraniums in clay pots

blushing red --

no green trees for our view

just the Mystic River bridge

Marion Alice Poirier

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在門廊上

爸爸種在陶盆裡的天竺葵

花瓣泛紅 --

從我們的視線範圍看不到綠樹

只有神秘河大橋

    

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在门廊上

爸爸种在陶盆里的天竺葵

花瓣泛红 --

从我们的视线范围看不到绿树

只有神秘河大桥

Bio Sketch

Marion Alice Poirier is a lifetime resident of Boston, MA. She began writing haiku in 2001 and eventually began to teach haiku in workshops on Poetry Circle and Emerging Poets. She also write short poetry and have been published in on-line haiku and short poetry journals like Tinywords, Hedgerow and The Heron's Nest.

A Room of My Own: All the Feelings Tanka

(FYI: The following is the first installment of Realm of Contagious Stupidity, an ongoing series of contemporary, satirical kyōka examining modern culture and politics.

Realm of Contagious Stupidity, I

In response to Dietrich Bonhoeffer: "Against stupidity we are defenseless."

at the gallery

a plane mirror with a sign:

the DUMBEST --

no one stands before it

except a Trump lookalike

FYI: The Guardian, Oct. 2 2025: A critique of pure stupidity: understanding Trump 2.0

If the first term of Donald Trump provoked anxiety over the fate of objective knowledge, the second has led to claims we live in a world-historical age of stupid, accelerated by big tech. But might there be a way out?)

I was told

to hide all the feelings

once grown --

carrying this silver casket

I shed tears for her, and me

FYI: This could be read as a sequel to my tanka below:

with each sob

his body convulses …

in the hospital

for the first time

I embrace a man

Ribbons, 7:4, Winter 2011

Added:

my brain humming 

with scraps of Sappho  

while Eros stirs ...

"I'll be a poet," I confess

to my river reflection

Added: This Brave New World, CXXVIII

another lineup

round the block near a foodbank

wall-mounted TV

blasting "sunlight on demand"

"orbiting data centers"

FYI: The Tyee, July 23 2026: 

Reflect Orbital's giant mirror to create “sunlight on demand” was just approved by the United States Federal Communications Commission, or FCC,

In February, SpaceX filed with the FCC for one million more satellites, for “AI data centers.”

Added:

dust motes  

in slanted moonlight—  

I settle  

into what remains

after bankruptcy

One Man's Maple Moon: Two Lovers Tanka by M. Kei

English Original

an afternoon

as ordinary

as seagulls

but two lovers

pose forever 

M. Kei

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

一個午後

如同海鷗般

平凡

但兩位戀人

卻擺出永恒的姿態

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

一个午后

如同海鸥般

平凡

但两位恋人

却摆出永恒的姿态

Bio Sketch

M. Kei is a tall ship sailor and award-winning poet who lives on Maryland’s Eastern shore. He is the editor of Atlas Poetica: A Journal of World Tanka. His most recent collection of poetry is January, A Tanka Diary. He is also the author of the award-winning gay Age of Sail adventure novels, Pirates of the Narrow Seas. He can be followed on Twitter @kujakupoet, or visit AtlasPoetica.org.

One Man's Maple Moon: Firelight Tanka by Keitha Keyes

English Original

in welcome

he smears red ochre

on my forehead —

black and white faces

glisten in the firelight

red lights, 17:2

Keitha Keyes 

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

以示歡迎

他將紅色赭石塗抹

在我的額頭上—

黑白相間的臉龐

在火光中閃爍

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

以示欢迎

他将红色赭石涂抹

在我的额头上—

黑白相间的脸庞

在火光中闪烁

Bio Sketch

Keitha Keyes lives in Sydney, surrounded by antique irons and ship models. She enjoys writing  tanka, haiku, senryu, cherita and related genres. Her work is published in many journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas.

Poetic Musings: Neon Lights Tanka by Christine Judd

neon lights

fade in dawn's lilac glow

on the footpath

clubbers, drug-fucked

in bedraggled revelry

NeverEnding Story, May 3, 2026

Christine Judd

Commentary: This tanka is a quintessential example of urban onihishigitei. By intentionally shattering the "elegant" expectations of the form—traditionally reserved for nature or romance—Judd replaces classical refinement with the visceral grit of the street.

The tanka sets a "poetic trap" in L2 with "dawn's lilac glow." This soft imagery evokes a classic aesthetic, only to be "quelled" by the spatial descent to the "footpath" in L 3. This vertical drop from the sky to the concrete mirrors the physical and chemical "comedown" of the subjects.

The compound "drug-fucked" in L 4 is the definitive urban onihishigitei move. The diction is intentionally jarring and stripped of any romantic veneer, forcing the reader to confront the raw exhaustion of urban excess. This linguistic violence is sustained by the percussive weight of "bedraggled revelry" in L5—an oxymoron that perfectly captures the messy, depleted tail-end of the night.

A Room of My Own: Before Jesus Tanka

a bare heart

and a humbled mind

before Jesus --

patch by patch filtered sunlight

slips beyond the chapel door

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to my tanka below:

in the chapel

I pray to Jesus

hour after hour

finally tired of me

Time leaves me alone

NeverEnding Story, September 15, 2017

Added:

The air in here twice-breathed, the taste of stale water in the waiting room. 

trapped wasp

thumping at the pane 

doctor’s gaze

Added:

Awake after a late muggy afternoon nap.

alone

yet the looping

of this fly

FYI: This could be read as a prequel to my senryu below:

summer cottage

after killing the last fly

I am alone

Failed Haiku, 2:16, 2017

And this could be read as a prequel to my senryu below:

summer cottage

everywhere the echo 

of me

Cattails, October 2025

Added:

By the lake of my mind, flower by flower ...

first homecoming

where wild bluebells bloomed

stacked townhouses

Added: No More Fairy Tales, LV

wildfires

hotter, bigger, deadlier

than before—

orange haze over Toronto

as multi-lane traffic crawls

FYI: This is a sequel to my tanka below:

No More Fairy Tales, XXXII

silhouetted

against the smoky forest

far away yet near ...

the Premier's mouth opens, closes

opens before cameras

NeverEnding Story, August 15 2024

One Man's Maple Moon: Click Tanka by Susan Constable

English Original

... and then

the click of a garden gate

on a moonless night

the sound of his footsteps

sneaking into my dream

The Eternity of Waves, 2017

Susan Constable

Chinese Translation (Traditional)

... 然後

花園大門咔噠一聲

在沒有月光的夜晚

他的腳步聲

悄悄地潛入我的夢境

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

... 然后

花园大门咔哒一声

在没有月光的夜晚

他的脚步声

悄悄地潜入我的梦境

Bio Sketch

Susan Constable (1943–2026) was an award-winning Canadian poet whose haiku and tanka appeared widely in global journals. She authored the acclaimed collection The Eternity of Waves and served as tanka editor for A Hundred Gourds (2012–2016). Constable also co-edited multiple anthologies and judged numerous international short-form poetry contests.