Tankas
By Tom Odegard
NOTE: Tankas are basically Haiku with two additional lines of seven syllables each. American Tankas often have more syllables (due to the gestalt quality of Japanese writing). Tom tries to write classical thirty-one syllable Tankas. (For more information, try: www.americantanka.com.)
Some old faces contain young folk who eagerly look forward others are old thru and thru clinging to yesterdays such a waste of living
(The following Tankas are a set.)
Stringless love held us an irony to be sure our hearts arhythmic fibrillating together steadying sympatico
No room for what if(s) Now is large enough for us You breathing my music Your foot beating time, yes/no Daughters believing in us
From now to then: short From then to now: infinite Tick to tock to tick… Inside each second love grew healing you, me, friends, and world
we were busy then your life, my life, back to back each looking away now face to face, hand in hand each sun/moon a new moment
so many new friends who are old friends renewed spring into summer so we dance with them: singing sing with them dancing: new moon
Copyright 2007 Tom Odegard