Issue Eleven - September 2007

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