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Atlas Poetica, #7
ATLAS POETICA A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka Number 7 Autumn, 2010 ATLAS POETICA A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka Number 7 Autumn, 2010 M. Kei, editor Alex von Vaupel, technical director ISSN 1939-6465 Print ISSN 1945-8908 Digital 2010 Keibooks, Perryville, Maryland, USA KEIBOOKS P O Box 516 Perryville, Maryland, USA 21903 AtlasPoetica.org [email protected] Atlas Poetica A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka Number 7 — Autumn 2010 Copyright © 2010 by Keibooks All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers and scholars who may quote brief passages. See our EDUCATIONAL USE NOTICE at the end of the journal. Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka, a triannual print journal, is dedicated to publishing and promoting ne poetry of place in contemporary English tanka (including variant forms). Atlas Poetica is interested in both traditional and innovative verse of high quality and in all serious attempts to assimilate the best of the Japanese waka/tanka/kyoka/gogyohka genres into a continuously developing English short verse tradition. In addition to verse, Atlas Poetica publishes articles, essays, reviews, interviews, letters to the editor, etc., related to tanka poetry of place. Tanka in translation from around the world are welcome. Published by Keibooks Printed in the United States of America, 2010 Print Edition ISSN 1939-6465 Digital Edition ISSN 1945-8908 [PDF & HTML versions] AtlasPoetica.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial World Tanka, M. Kei .........................7 Articles Review: Weaver Birds, by Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi,reviewed by Patricia Innu ....................................................15 French / Français .................9, 11, 12, 15 Spanish / Español.....9, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 Lithuanian / Lietuviu kalba.....................7 Prime ..............................................49 Review: A Pillow Stuffed With Diamonds, by Margaret Van Every, reviewed by Neil Schmitz ...................................52 Romanian / Român .........21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28 Dutch & Flemish / Nederlands & Vlaams ...................30, 33, 34, 36, 65 Review: The Time of This World, by Kawano Yko, reviewed by Patricia Prime..................................54 German / Deutsch ...............................38 Hebrew ...............................................36 Chinese / 中文 .....................................29 Japanese / 日本語.................................60 Luganda ..............................................39 English ................................................40 Fante ...................................................42 Ewe ....................................................43 Afrikaans .............................................44 Twi (Akuapem) ..................45, 46, 47, 48 Chronology and Tanka, Kisaburo Konoshima, translated and edited by David Callner .................................58 Bespreking Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka 2008 & Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka Vol. 2, by Paul Mercken .............................65 Obituary : Kawano Yko, by Amelia Fielden ...........................69 Announcements ..................................70 International Resources .......................73 Biographies in English .........................78 Educational Use Notice .......................83 World Tanka Wow! ¡Caramba! Incroyable! What else can be said about an issue that features tanka in Innu, Lithuanian, French, Spanish, Romanian, German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Luganda, Fante, Ewe, and Twi? We have lled the entire issue with tanka in translation from around the world. Especially exciting are the contributions from Africa where tanka will have a new home in the Rough Sheet Tanka Journal edited by Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah of Winneba, Ghana. Equally exciting is the continued development of tanka groups in Australia and a new tanka group in México. Some of the voices in ATPO 7 are well-known but gain new resonance when speaking languages other than English. Other voices are unknown and represent fresh and different approaches to tanka. By grouping presentations together by language or geography, shared traits and differences can be observed both within and without tanka communities. Together they illustrate the extraordinary suppleness of tanka, yet they carry the heaviest of weights: the emotions of the human heart. Nothing is exempt from the poet’s eye. Violence in México, the heartaches of a nursing home, shanty towns in Africa, crime, exile, superstition, governmental folly, and yes, those old standbys, love and nature are all here. Technology, baobab trees, and kisses intermingle. ATPO has always welcomed voices from around the world. The addition of Special Features on the website at <http://AtlasPoetica.org> showcasing particular communities has been very well received. Current exhibitions of Romanian tanka, Canadian tanka in French and English, and Australian and New Zealand tanka, illustrate the national voices as well as the individual accomplishments of the poets. However, many tanka poets are working in languages or in areas where there is not much support or interest in tanka, so this issue was conceived as a venue to present as diverse a range as possible of tanka poetry. Like rare butteries, tanka in languages such as Twi, Innu, Hebrew, and Lithuanian are rarely seen, and illustrate tanka’s ability to express the experiences of people around the globe. In addition, non-ction articles, reviews, announcements and international resources further expand the scope of the issue. Sadly, not all news is good news: Japanese tanka poet Kawano Yko passed away recently. An obituary by her friend and translator, Amelia Fielden, is included. Readers and poets are all likely to nd something to interest, provoke, or inspire them in these pages. ~K~ M. Kei Editor, Atlas Poetica Ghadamis River, Libya. This scar on an arid landscape is the dry riverbed of the Ghadamis River in the Tinrhert Hamada Mountains near Ghadamis, Libya. Cover Image courtesy of Our Earth As Art by NA S A < h t t p : / / e a r t h a s a r t . g s f c . n a s a . g o v / index.htm>. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 7 A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 8 The Fight, La Bataille, Ginas, La Pelea Zoa Barisas Zoa Barisas, French translator Zoa Barisas & Joe Klemka Lithuanian translators Zoa Barisas, Spanish translator branches thrash in the chill gale— in the room their harsh words— he makes his bed on the couch nuit d’orage hier vieux chêne fendu en deux— sur le miroir en rouge à lèvres “adieu” les branches s’agitent dans la rafale glacée— dans la chambre leurs mots durs— il fait son lit sur le divan vakar nakti perkunija senas ažuolas skylis i du— veidrodi lupu paišeliu “sudiev” šakos braška šaltam veji— kambari ju aštrus žodžiai— jis klojas lova ant sofos noche de tormenta ayer viejo roble partido en dos— en el espejo en lápiz de labios “adiós” las ramas se tuercen en el viento helado— en el cuarto sus palabras duras— él hace su cama en el sofa thunderstorm last night old oak split in two— on the mirror in lipstick “goodbye” the waves rush against the rocks and break and again rush and break— “come back come back to me” les vagues s’élancent sur les rochers et se brisent et de nouveau s’élancent et se brisent “reviens reviens à moi” A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 9 ~The Fight, cont. bangos trenkia i uolas ir dužta ir iš naujo trenkia ir dužta— “sugrišk sugrišk pas mane” las olas se precipitan contra las rocas y se quebran y de nuevo se precipitan y se quebran “vuelve vuelve a mí” morning stillness in the fog two egrets— he makes coffee for two les branches ondulent dans la brise légère— dans la chambre leurs doux murmures— le lit soupire sous leurs corps šakos svyrineja lengvan vejeli— kambari ju švelni šnybždejimai— lova atsidusta po ju kunais las ramas se mueven en el viento ligero— en el cuarto sus dulces murmuros— la cama suspira bajo sus cuerpos ~Ajijic, México calme du matin dans le brouillard deux égrettes— il prepare du café pour deux Zoa Barisas gime Montreali. Kai ji turejo penkius metus jos familija persikelo ant farmos Saint Paul de Joliette parapijoj. Namie kalbejo lietuviškai. Jos mama pasakojo pasakas apie senus karalius ir kunigaikšius ir ilgas vainas. Vienoliny kur ji mokynos kalbejo pransužiskai. Apsivede su Angliku iš Yorkshire ir gyveno Anglijoj. Dabar gyvena Ajijic miesteli, Mexikoj. Širdies namai vis Lietuvoj. ryto ramybe baltoj migloj du garniai— jis paruoše kavos dviem Joe Klemka Joe Klemka gime Montreali, lietuviu tevu sunus. Mokynos prancužiskos mokyklos Quebeki ir universitetos Halifaxi ir Ottawoj. Jis mokyno Meteorologiju, Ledo studiju ir Juru Istoriju Kanados Coast Guard Kolegijoj, Nova Scotia. Mokslo laiku važiavo kelius kartus Aukšton Arktinien. Jis ir jo žmona gyvena Sydney miesti, Cape Breton saloj. paz de la mañana en la nieblina dos garzas— el prepara café para dos branches wave in the mild breeze— in the room their soft murmurs— the bed sighs under their bodies A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 10 The Music From Your Mouth / La Musique de ta Bouche Terry Ann Carter Mike Montreuil, French translator in sickness and in health so many years ago your hippie hair long on our wedding day en santé et en maladie toutes ces annéespassées tes cheveux hippies longs le jour de notre mariage so much worry about your transplanted organ no time to appreciate this cherry petal season tant de souci pour ton organe greffé aucun temps pour apprécier cette saison de pétales de cerisiers topless I serve you breakfast in bed wishing the grapefruit were larger I peel the grapefruit into a perfect treble clef the discord of frequent migraines and nausea j’épluche le pamplemousse en une parfaite clé de sol la discorde des migraines fréquentes et de la nausée despite angry words I still hear the music from your mouth malgré des mots de colère j’entends encore la musique de ta bouche so long since you have smiled if only Cassiopeia could light your way seins nus je te sers un petit déjeuner au lit espérant que les pamplemousses soient plus gros si longtemps depuis ton dernier sourire si seulement Cassiopée pouvait illuminer ton chemin ~Canada A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 11 Les haïkus et tankas de Terry Ann Carter sont publiés dans divers revues à travers le monde. Elle a aussi reçu plusieurs prix internationaux pour ses haïkus. Elle a rédigée, avec Marco Fraticelli Carpe Diem: Mike Montreuil vit dans la vielle ville de Gloucester avec sa famille et leurs chats. Ses haïkus, tankas et haibuns en anglais et en français ont été publiés à travers le monde. Anthologie Canadienne Du Haïku/Canadian Anthology of Haiku (Les Editions David/ Borealis Press) 2008. My Mother, Ma Mère, Mi Madre Zoa Barisas Zoa Barisas, French translator Zoa Barisas, Spanish translator lunch away from the care home— at the Grey Goose restaurant my old mother stops on the way in to kick the stone that holds the door open déjeuner hors de l’hospice— au restaurant de L’Oie Grise ma vielle mère s’arrête avant d’entrer pour donner un coup de pied à la roche qui maintient la porte ouverte comida fuera de la casa de ancianos— en el restaurante El Ganso Gris mi mamá se para antes de entrar para dar una patada a la piedra que mantiene la puerta abierta in the common room a man with his pants on backward reaches out for my mother’s breast “noooo . . .” she says with a coy smile— I wish I could make her young again A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 12 ~My Mother, cont. dans la salle commune un homme avec ses pantalons de revers étend sa main vers le sein de ma mère “non …” elle dit avec un sourire coquet— comme j’aimerais la voir jeune de nouveau en la sala de estar un hombre con sus pantalones puestos al revés extiende su mano hacia el seno de mi mamá “noooo . . . ” ella dice con una sonrisa coqueta— como me gustaría verla de nuevo joven after my visit my mother and the other patients huddle around me as the nurse unlocks the door— my chest tight with held back sobs après ma visite ma mère et les autres patients se pressent contre moi pendant que l’inrmière débarre la porte— mon coeur serré refoule les sanglots despues de mi visita mi mamá y los otros pacientes se amontonan alrededor de mí mientras la enfermera abre la puerta con llave— mi corazón duele con lágrimas retenidas no other visitors this Sunday the male patients latch on to my three young sons to talk baseball and politics “and how is your mother” my mother asks me pas d’autres visiteurs ce dimanche les hommes s’attachent à mes trois jeunes ls pour parler baseball et politique “et comment va ta mère” me demande ma mère A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 13 ~My Mother, cont. no hay otros visitantes este domingo los hombres se acercan a mis tres hijos jóvenes para hablar de baseball y de política “y cómo va tu mamá” me pregunta mi mamá my mother beams when she sees us though she no longer knows who we are my son spoons mashed potatoes into her mouth and talks about the old farm to give her the sound of his happy voice ma mère se réjouit quand elle nous voit même si elle ne sait plus qui nous sommes mon ls mets des cuillerées de patates pilées dans sa bouche et parle de la vieille ferme pour lui donner le son de sa voix heureuse mi mamá se alegra cuando nos vea a pesar de ya no saber quienes somos mi hijo pone cucharadas de purée de papa en su boca y habla del viejo rancho para compartir con ella su voz feliz my rst trip to her home country I sprinkle her ashes under pine trees by the Baltic Sea— my mother leaves me for the last time mon premier voyage au pays où elle est née j’éparpille ses cendres sous les pins près de la mer baltique— ma mère me quitte pour la dernière fois mi primer viaje a su país natal esparcillo sus cenizas bajo de los pinos a la orilla del mar báltico— mi mamá me deja por la última vez ~Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, and Juodkrante, on the Curonian Spit, Lithuania A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 14 Zoa Barisas est née a Montréal. Quand elle avait cinq ans sa famille a déménagé a une ferme a Saint Paul de Joliette. La langue parlée a la maison était le lituanien. Sa mère racontait des histoires de rois, de chevaliers et de batailles épiques. La langue parlée au couvent était le français. Elle s’est mariée avec un homme du Yorkshire et vécut en Angleterre. Maintenant elle vit a Ajijic, au Mexique. Le pays de son coeur demeure la Lituanie. Zoa Barisas nació en Montreal. Cuando tenía cinco años su familia se cambió a un rancho en la parroquia de Saint Paul de Joliette. El idioma hablado en casa era el lituano. Su mamá contaba cuentos sobre viejos reyes y sus caballeros y guerras épicas. El idioma en el convento era el francés. Ella se casó con un hombre del Yorkshire y vivió en Inglaterra. Ahora ella vive en Ajijic, México. El hogar de su corazón sigue siendo Lituania. (* cratère visible depuis la Lune et formé par un astéroïde tombé il y a plus de 200 millions d’années. Ce tanka est aussi traduit en innu – langue du peuple autochtone originaire de deux régions québécoises (Côte-Nord et Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean) et de Terre-Neuve-Labrador.) the Innu shares his meteorite stone with two white women— his people and the Manicouagan crater * both the « eye of Quebec » (* crater clearly seen from space and formed by an asteroid fallen more than 200 millions years. This tanka is also translated in Innu, the language of the indigenous people living mainly in two regions of Quebec (North-Coast and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean) and in Newfoundland-Labrador.) Matinueu innu Utashinim Ashit nenua nishu kakusseshishkueua Utinnima kie anite Tshishe-Manikuakan E nishiht « Upishtikueiau ussishiku » Janick Belleau Janick Belleau, English translator Yvette Mollen, Innu translator L’Innu partage son quartz météoritique avec deux Blanches – son peuple et le cratère Manicouagan * tous deux « l’œil du Québec » Vieux-Quito terrasse sur le parvis il vient vers moi sur ses mains et ses moignons en lambeaux je me lève historic Quito terrace on the square he comes towards me on his hands and legs stumps falling to bits I get up A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 15 ~Belleau, cont. Jour de recyclage concert de gazouillis urbains un déjà-vu le réveil de la jungle au temps du carnaval recycling day concert of urban chirps a déjà-vu the jungle’s awakening at carnival time ~Montréal, Canada Janick Belleau : Poète, rédactrice culturelle et conférencière. Articles et exposés traitent, en grande partie, de la contribution des femmes à l’avancement du tanka et du haïku. Yvette Mollen : Directrice, depuis 2003, du secteur de la langue à l’Institut Tshakapesh à Sept-Îles, anciennement nommé l’Institut culturel et éducatif montagnais (ICEM), où elle travaille notamment pour la sauvegarde de la langue innue. Margaret Van Every Margaret Van Every, Spanish translator To Toluca let’s take the scenic short cut on treacherous mountain roads. I fear the curves and clouds less than yesterday’s shootings. Para Toluca vamos a tomar el atajo escénico en caminos peligrosos de montaña. Temo las curvas y nubes menos que los tiroteos de ayer. From under a truck beside the ring road the better half of a man, his round, brown buttocks emerging from slipped jeans. Debajo de un camión al lado del periférico la mejor mitad de un hombre, sus nalgas redondas y marrones, saliendo de vaqueros deslizados. Lining our highways plastic shrines to young martyrs who sacriced all to trees, cliffs, or ditches in the name of speed and booze. A los lados de nuestros caminos hay santuarios de plástico para mártires jóvenes que dieron el sacricio supremo a los árboles, acantilados o las zanjas en el nombre de la velocidad y el alcohol. Scorpion shoes on a bedside pedestal will walk you to the bathroom at night armored against la cola picotaza.* A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 16 (*the stinging tail) Zapatos para alacranes encima de un pedestal junto a la cama te guiarán al baño por la noche protegido de la cola picotaza. Mexican law will bless the marriage, be it straight or gay. She sees no kinks in the knot however it is tied. La ley mexicana bendecirá el matrimonio, sea hetero o gay. Ella no ve torceduras en el nudo como quisieras atarlo. Now that brujismo* is outlawed here, magos** and curanderos*** too, how will I win your heart, and if I can’t, how will I cure mine? (*witchcraft, **wizards, ***healers) Ahora que el brujismo es ilegal aquí, los magos y curanderos también, ¿cómo ganaré tu corazón? y si no puedo, ¿cómo curaré el mío? ~México Mel Goldberg Mel Goldberg, Spanish Translator I rush through the closet of my mind pausing at my favorite shirt ando de prisa a traves del armario de mi mente deteniendome con mi camisa preferida ~México Mel Goldberg, después de graduar de la Universidad en California, enseño en California, Illinois, Arizona y en Inglaterra. En 1990 publicó un libro de poesía y de fotografía, The Cyclic Path. En 2001 publicó Sedona Poems para el centenario de Sedona, Arizona. Su novela, Choices, y su libro de cuentos, A Cold Killing, son disponibles en Kindle. Sus cuentos y poemas han sido publicados en revistas y en publicaciones electronicas en los Estados Unidos, México, el Reino Unido y en Australia. Durante seis anos vivio en una casa rodante viajando entre Alaska y México. Ahora vive en Ajijic, Jalisco, México Margaret Van Every vive y escribe in San Antonio Tlayacapan en el Lago de Chapala en Jalisco, México. Ha publicado un libro de tanka sobre la vida y la cultura mexicana que se llama Una Almohada Rellena con Diamantes (Librophilia 2010). <http:// www.librophilia.com> A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 17 Rob Mohr Linda Moore Spanish translator that woman is free to wander but at night sleeps locked in a cage the church bell rings calling us to worship while across the street a dog pees on the minister’s door la campana de la iglesia suena para llamarnos a adorar a la vez por otro lado de la calle un perro orina en la puerta del pastor esa mujer es libre a desviarse pero por noche ella duerme encerrada en una jaula tomorrow is my day to sleep when she comes I’ll be gone I fall in love crossing the lawn as she waves to the man standing beside me me enamoro caminando por el prado mientras ella saludó con ademanes al hombre parado a mi lado mañana es mi día para dormir cuando ella viene habré ido ~Ajijic, Jalisco, México rain walks across the lake while on the horizon lightning runs down the rainbow la lluvia camina a través del lago mientras en el horizonte el rayo relámpago corre por el arco iris Rob Mohr, tanto pintor como escritor, empezó su carrera profesional como maestro de la pintura, el dibujo, la estética, y la historia del arte en varias universidades de Carolina del Norte y Carolina del Sur. Después de terminar su contrato en el Cuerpo de Paz, Rob, orientado por las enseñanzas de Paolo Freire, trabajaba con las comunidades indígenas marginalizadas por Sud y Centroamérica, utilizando la educación no-formal para ayudarle a la gente a comprender su potencial individual y comunitario. Después de esta experiencia, Rob y su esposa Linda se radicaron en Ajijic, México, para pintar y escribir. Inspirado por la enseñanza de su amigo Jim Tipton, Rob ha llegado a entender y querer el poder de la analogia expresado por tanka. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 18 Linda Moore, la esposa de Rob quien compartía su trabajo en Latinoamérica, es historiadora del arte y maestra de español. Ella ha traducido la poesía de Antonio Otzoy (Guatemala) del español al inglés, y ha redactado unos libros de amigos en Ajijic. Actualmente, está escribiendo una novela histórica que toma lugar en Yucatán. Is it me or her cross that tonight has the place of most importance between her dark Peruvian breasts? ¿Es mí o su cruz que esta noche tiene el lugar de más importancia entre sus oscuros senos peruanos? ~Lima, Peru James Tipton Martha Alcántar, Spanish translator That woman in Lima was always her very best in bed late Saturday afternoons just before she left for Confession. Esa mujer en Lima fué siempre la mejor en la cama en las tardes avanzadas de los sábados justo antes de salir para Confesión. Her unapologetic nipples taught me everything I needed to know about the ner points of Catholicism in Peru. Sus pezones sin disculparse me enseñaron todo lo que necesité saber acerca de los puntos más nos de Catolicismo en Perú. In Guadalajara my nephew in second grade announces to his class: “My new house is very ugly . . . but it has a bathroom.” En Guadalajara mi sobrino en segunda grado anuncia en su clase: “Mi nueva casa es muy fea . . . pero tiene un baño.” In the hospital in Guadalajara the green gowns made for Mexicans fall only two inches below my crotch En el hospital en Guadalajara las batas verdes hechas para mexicanos caen sólo dos pulgadas debajo de mi entrepierna. ~Guadalajara, México A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 19 ~Tipton, cont. One summer night I found the perfect woman but by early morning most of her had already left. She makes love as if she were still swimming at dusk in that warm bay at Guayabitos. Ella hace el amor como si estuviera nadando todavía en el crepúsculo en esa tibia bahía en Guayabitos. ~Guayabitos, México ~Telluride, Colorado That mountain road kept breaking off into different directions until nally at dusk I realized it was my life To love one woman well is the way to love all women well. Amar bien a una mujer es la manera de amar a todas las mujeres bien. ~Chapala, México How is it possible to have such strong desire for a Japanese tanka poet in her forties whom I have never met? ¿Cómo es posible tener tan fuerte deseo por una poeta japonesa de tanka en sus cuarentas a quien nunca he conocido? ~Ajijic, México Una noche de verano encontré la mujer perfecta pero temprano por la mañana la mayor parte de ella ya se había ido. Ese camino en la montaña no paraba de dividirse en direcciones diferentes hasta que nalmente con el crepúsculo me dí cuenta que era mi vida. ~Frisco, Colorado longing for the new year to begin with you reading the paper in bed beside me anhelo comenzar el nuevo año contigo a mi lado leyendo el periódico en la cama ~Denver, Colorado A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 20 James Tipton (Chapala, Jalisco, México) ha publicado más de 1000 poemas, cuentos y artículos, en varias revistas incluyendo Contemporary Literature in Translation, International Poetry Journal, Apicultura Moderna, Mundos Artium, American Literary Review, The Nation, Esquire, El Ojo del Lago, Lake Chapala Review, Living at Lake Chapala, y México Connect. Su obra ha sido traducida en varios i d i o m a s — e s p a ñ o l , i t a l i a n o , a l e m á n , portugués, francés, chino, japonés, polaco, danés, y noruego. Su colección de poesíHello a Letters from a Stranger (con introducción escrita por Isabel Allende) ganó el 1999 Colorado Book Award. Una colección de su tanka, Todos los Caballos del Paraíso, fue publicado por MET Press en 2009. Martha Alcántar (Chapala, Jalisco, México) nació y creció en un pequeño pueblo en la costa del Pacíco en México. A mitad de su adolescencia se mudó a Puerto Vallarta donde continuó con sus estudios académicos. Ahora vive en Chapala, México, donde disfruta leyendo literatura contemporánea, traduciendo poesía en Español, haciendo masajes y viendo muchas películas. Está casado con James Tipton y tienen una hija, Gabriela, dos perras, Chispa y Cookie, y su gata Manchas. Cristina Rusu Magdalena Dale, Romanian translator Palide umbre în acest amurg violet i noi tot mai strini . . . sunetul ploii din geam rzbate-n toat casa Pale shadows in this violet twilight and we are so different . . . the sound of rain in the window is spread in the whole house Nu ne-am rtcit cutînd drumul spre noi din amintiri . . . cu un simplu gest întinzi cutele de pe frunte We didn’t lose in search for the way towards us from the memories . . . with a simple gesture you stretch the wrinkles from the brow ~Romania Cristina Rusu, nscut pe data de 17 mai 1972 în Ia i, locuie te în Ia i, România. Debut literar cu poeme haiku i tanrenga in revista Dor de Dor. Apariii cu poeme haiku în antologia Greieri i Crizanteme, Editura Orion, Bucure ti, 2007, în revistele, LiterNet; Nota Bene, Literaturen vestnik – Soa, Bulgaria, aprilie i mai 2010, cu poeme în revista Poezia, Editura Fundaiei Culturale Poezia, Iai, 2008. Ea este printre ce 25 de Poei Romîni de Tanka publicai în Atlas Poetica în martie 2010. Poemele sale pot citite pe site-ul literar <http://www.agonia.ro>. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 21 Drops of Rain Magdalena Dale Magdalena Dale, Romanian translator Drops of rain over all these white owers with wet leaves . . . pieces of my daydream and my sakura yearning Picuri de ploaie peste aceste ori albe cu frunzele ude . . . buci din visul meu i dor de sakura On my way so many fallen leaves . . . a cold rain and Indian summer suddenly sent away În drum spre cas atâtea frunze czute . . . o ploaie rece i vara Indian imediat a disprut So many drops gathered on the leaves near a ower I stop to listen to the echo of the storm Atâtea picturi adunate pe frunze lâng o oare m opresc s ascult ecoul furtunii ~Romania/România Magdalena Dale s-a nscut i triete în Bucureti, România. Ea este membr a Societii Române de Haiku i membr a World Haiku Association condus de poetul Ban’ya Natsuishi cu sediul în Tokio. A publicat în câteva reviste: Haiku, Albatros, Dor de Dor, Ribbons, Gusts, Kokako, Magnapoets, Modern English Tanka, Atlas Poetica, Ambrosia, moonset, Taj Mahal Review i revistele japoneze Ginyu, Hekian and World Haiku Association. Poemele sale au aprut în câteva antologii ca: Fire Pearls: (Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart), Among the Lilies, Magnapoets anthologies: One Hundred Droplets, While the Light Holds i câteva Summer rain over the thirsty earth my hasty steps on my way to you I hold up my dreams Ploaie de var peste pmântu-însetat paii mei grbii în drumul meu spre tine in la piept visele antologii româneti. Poemele sale tanka i alte poeme au aprut pe mai multe site-uri online. A publicat o carte bilingv de tanka Perle de rou/Dew pearls, împreun cu poetul Vasile Moldovan a publicat o carte bilingv de renga Mireasm de tei / Fragrance of lime i o carte bilingv de haiku Ecourile tcerii / The echoes of silence. Poemele sale pot gsite pe mai multe site-uri literare online. A cîtigat cteva premii. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 22 Vechiul Port Constantza / Old Harbor Vasile Moldovan Vasile Moldovan, Romanian translator Looking in the gulf mirror . . . a lotus opens its silent ower to her moved heart Vechiul port— nimeni nu vine nimeni nu pleac . . . Doar vântul nemilos i valurile ‘nvolburate Old harbor— nobody comes in nobody goes away . . . Only the frightful wind and the whirling way Un far în largul mrii . . . În port iubita unui marinar uturând batista ~Constantza, Romania Vasile Moldovan s-a nscut într - un sat din Transilvania la 20 iunie 1949. Este cofondator (1991) i preedinte al Societii Române de Haiku (2001-2009). A publicat cinci cri de haiku, Via Dolorosa (1998), Faa nevzut a lunii (2001), Arca lui Noe (2005) i Într- o zi de var. De asemenea, a publicat împreun cu Magdalena Dale cartea de renku Mireasm de tei. A beacon far in the ofng . . . In the harbor a sailor’s sweetheart waving a handkerchief Privind în oglinda golfului . . . Un lotus îi deschide oarea spre inima ei A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 23 erban Codrin Alexandra Flora Munteanu, Romanian translator Calea Lactee în strachina cu apa a tâmplarului— m-asez la masa de lemn cu lingura în mâna The Milky Way in the water bowl of the carpenter— I sit at the wooden table with the spoon in the hand Cascada urc i explodeaz-albastru cerul spre pamânt— pianul i universul sub degetele tale The waterfall gets up and the blue explodes the sky to the earth— the piano and the universe under your ngers Comterra, Bucure ti 2005, Missa requiem, 1997, Scoici fr perle poeme zen,1997, Marea Tcere antologie de autor. Poemele sale pot gsite în câteva antologii naionale i internaionale. Alexandra Flora Munteanu – este membr fondatoare a Societrii de HaikuConstana (1992-2007) i a Societr ii francofone Amis sans frontieres, Constana; (1995-2002), membr a Ligii Navale Române; colabor ri la revistele: Albatros, Haiku, Tomis, Metafora, Civiscord, Dynamis, World Haiku Review. Prezen e în antologii na ionale i internaionale: Cântecul apelor, România (2004); Green peace, Japonia (2003); V ra b a t z , C r o a i a ( 2 0 0 3 ) ; M e g u r o , 2004-2005, Bucureti, on line, Romania; Flori de tei, Constana, Romania (2006); Scoici de mare, Constana, Romania (2007); Greieri i crizanteme, Bucureti, Romania (2007). Cri publicate: Autori, gânduri, c ri (portrete de autori 2002); Semnele vremii, ediie bilingv, (haiku, tanka, haibun), 2005; Haiku i despre haiku (haiku, eseuri, haiku al elevilor) 2007. Premii: ABI (SUA)-mai multe titluri (1996-1998); Diploma Societii de Haiku , 2003; Honorable Mention, Albatros, 2005; Diploma pentru promovarea poeziei haiku în lume, Albatros, 2007; Diplom pentru fondarea Societii de Haiku- Constana i a revistei, Albatros, 2007. ~Romania erban Codrin s-a nscut pe 10 mai 1945 Bucureti, România. El a publicat câteva cri de poezie clasic i de asemenea cri de tanka i haiku: Dincolo de tacere/Aux connd du silence/Beyond Quietness, editura Haiku, Bucureti 1994; Între patru anotimpuri/ Entre quatre saison/Between four seasons, editura Haiku, Bucure ti 1994; O srbtoare a felinarelor stinse/A fest of the Extinguished Street Lamps, editura Tempus Dacoromania A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 24 Marius Surleac Marius Surleac, Romanian translator sun hiding through clouds— dismantled scream of the wind invoking the rain my eyes sensing the morphine under the kiss of the night soare-ascuns prin nori— demontat uier de vânt invocând ploaia ochii simind morna sub srutarea nop ii ight of rusty leaves— a farmer aspirating the garden of fall I mime a V of birds beyond the hedge of wrapped summer zbor de frunze ruginii— un fermier aspir grdina toamnei mimez un V de psri dincolo de var screams and some bells’ waves— burial of the dead one in nature’s cofn across the road, kids in trees eat the red juicy cherries unde de clopot— în sicriul naturii înmormântare peste drum copii în copaci gust ciree zemoase ~Bucharest, Romania Marius Surleac s-a nascut in August 1982, in Vaslui, Romania. Acum locuieste in Bucureti. A debutat in antologie in 2003 in urma participarii la un concurs de poezie. Participa la cenacluri literare si publica poezie si proza in reviste precum: Convorbiri Literare, Oglinda Literara, Hyperion, Egophobia, Feedback, Novo Slovo (Serbia). A participat cu poeme la festivalul de poezie Muza PoetikePegasi 2010 (Albania). Publica de asemenea pe site-uri din tara si strainatate. dolphins stir the mud— within a restless circle feast between shes to the shore shadows are still tied to the surviving rite delni agitând mâlul— într-un cerc mictor festin între peti la rm umbre xe-ntr-un rit de supravieuire A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 25 Luminita Suse Luminita Suse, Romanian translator autumn parades war colors around town the fragrance of ripe quinces peacefully invades the house toamna deleaz culori de rzboi prin ora parfum de gutui coapte invadeaz panic casa I speed on burnt roads to startle sparrows into hot air anything is better than cold at heart accelerez pe strzi încinse s ridic vrbiile în aerul erbinte orice este mai bine decât rceal în inim we stand in heavy rainfall talking the burden of the unsolved nally sifted drop by drop stm i vorbim în ploaie torenial în sfârit strecurm problemele nerezolvate strop cu strop in love you give blindly more and more resembling Venus from Milo în iubire druieti orbete semnând din ce în ce mai mult cu Venus din Milo again searching his poetry volume for a proof of love the dried leaf still holding after all this time caut din nou în volumul lui de poezii o dovad de iubire frunza uscat e înc intact dup atâta timp the lake unable to wash off pine reections my beliefs strongly opposed to warfare lacul nu reuete s înece imaginile pinilor reectate în el convingerile mele împotriva rzboiului everywhere I look forests never get tired of green wish I were chlorophyll and you—my tree A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 26 ~Suse, cont. oriunde privesc pduri ce nu se satur de verde a vrea s u clorol i tu - copacul meu wearing a long skirt and hair covered in Meteora monastery prayer disrupted by bare feet clapping in ip-ops port fust lung i prul acoperit cu basma în mânstirea Meteora rugciunea întrerupt de sunetul picioarelor goale în lapi snowfall upon skylight tropical heat in bedsheets our steaming eyeglasses entwine ménage à quatre ninge în lucarn cldur tropical în pat ochelarii notri aburii se contorsioneaz ménage à quatre winter solstice we ght in year’s longest night the day wasn’t enough to set the records right solstiiu de iarn ne certm în cea mai lung noapte a anului ziua nu a fost de ajuns s aplanm conictul home after another pragmatic to the bone hectic workday your silent touch unfolds a poem ~Canada acas dup înc o zi de munc pragmatic i nebun atingerea ta mut dezlnuie un poem stars strewed all over as if a child went heels over head startling reies into vastness stele împrtiate peste tot de parc un copil s-a npustit în noapte i a ridicat licuricii la cer Luminita Suse locuie te în Ottawa, Canada. Poeziile ei au aprut în Bywords Quarterly Journal, Ditch Poetry Magazine, The New Stalgica Hymnal, The Broken City Magazine, Sage of Consciousness e-zine, Moonbathing: A Journal of Women’s Tanka, i Ascent Aspirations Magazine. A primit locul trei i o meniune la concursul Flat Signed Poetry Competition 2007 - Chocolate River Poetry Association, o meniune la Emerging From Shadows Contest – 2010, i dou meniuni la The Open Heart Poetry Competition 2009 The Ontario Poetry Society. Unul din poemele sale s-a calicat în nala concursului 2010 Descant/Winston Collins Prize for Best Canadian Poem. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 27 M. Kei Magdalena Dale, Romanian translator when there are so many stars in the sky, why can’t I nd one for me? noua mea femeie, îngrijit i confortabil, drgu i pasional; dar ea tie pentru ce ochii-mi se întorc spre lun atuncea cand exista atatea stele pe cer de ce nu pot gasi una pentru mine too tired to work, I lay down and dream about tropical islands where her brown form comes swaying to me I show him how much I love and desire him— then he goes home to her. I want to hammer nails through both of them. îi art cât de mult îl iubesc i-l dorescapoi el merge la ea. vreau s bat cuie prin amândoi high tides threaten to overwhelm the dock; my daughter tells me about the man who hits her uxul amenin s inunde docul; sora mea îmi spune despre brbatul care o rnete tidy and comfortable, this new woman of mine, pretty, too, and passionate; but she knows why my eyes turn to the moon prea ostenit s muncesc, eu m întind i visez la insulele tropicale unde forma ei bronzat înoat spre mine (English versions previously appeared in Fire Pearls : Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart. Perryville, MD: Keibooks, 2006.) M. Kei este editor al revistei Atlas Poetica i redactor ef al publicaiei Take Five: Best Contemporary Tanka . De asemenea este autorul lucrrii Slow Motion: Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack. În viaa de zi cu zi el este un marinar de nav înalt i recent a publicat o trilogie de romane marinreti înfiând un protagonist gay, Pirates of the Narrow Seas. El este editorul noii antologii Catzilla! Tanka, Kyoka and Gogyohka About Cats. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 28 明日幾時有？ Tomorrow, When Will You Appear? 劉鎮歐 Chen-ou Liu 沈默堅立 Chen-ou Liu, Chinese translator 如同岩石 我渴望妳 … as silent and rm as the rocks I pine for you . . . the sun sets but not my shadow 太陽已西下 我的影子佇立不動 在落日光輝中 我和我的影子 in the glow of sunset, the shadow and I are companions: I dream of his life he longs for my heartbeat 是同伴： 我夢想他的生活 他渴望我的心跳 raising the wine cup you used to drink I entice the moon for her, with my shadow, will make a party of three 舉起 你常用的酒杯 我邀請明月 她，我的影子 ~A Room of My Own, Ajax, Ontario, Canada 和我三人成為好友 影廬，愛傑士，安大略省，加拿大 劉鎮歐生於台灣，2002年移居加拿大； 現住多倫多郊區，愛傑士。他是 Rust +Moth 和 Haijinx 季刊專欄作者。他的詩 作廣泛發行於世界各地，並編入詩選 集；其中二首短詩獲得國際比賽第三名 和佳作奬項。 A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 29 Innig / Intimate Geert Verbeke Paul Mercken, Flemish translator van ragjne mist is de zoute avondlucht rouwzang draagt soms ver iemand legde bloemen neer op het graf van jouw ouders briny evening sky of gossamer thin fog keening carries far somebody has put owers on your parents’ grave je opa woonde vlakbij een pianozaak je hoort weer Chopin of een streepje jazzmuziek maar daar hield oma niet van your granddad lived near a piano store hear Chopin again or a bar of jazz grandma didn’t like after the scattering to enter the rows of dune the pain keeps biting many a tide is needed before the gales die down in het reine zijn met de emoties van thuis beelden begroeten met rouwen in gedachten ook dat is intens reizen to come to terms with emotions from home to greet statues with mourning in mind that too is traveling intensely aan haar halsketting simpele houten kralen bij zieke vrienden mee aan tafel gaan zitten met verhalen en stilte na het uitstrooien de duinenrij betreden de pijn blijft bijten veel getijen zijn nodig eer de stormen gaan liggen on her necklace simple wooden beads she sits at the table of sick friends with tales and silence A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 30 ~Innig / Intimate, cont. ik zal heel stil zijn zegt haar zoon op het kerkhof want mijn opa slaapt herfstbladeren ritselen op geplaveide paden I’ll be very quiet says her son in the graveyard for granddad is asleep autumn leaves rustle on paved paths het onkruid wieden en tussen twee praalgraven een muis begraven de marmerzerk weerspiegelt het trillen van je handen to pull out weeds between two mausoleums and bury a mouse the marble cofn reects your trilling hands de ornamenten krijgen een inke poetsbeurt in rieten manden essen wijn van Mendoza met pikante worsten the ornaments get a rub-up in wicker baskets bottles of Mendoza wine with spicy sausages tijdens de rouwmis zwijgend de dienst verlaten je hebt echt geen zin in een zalvende lezing sterven spreekt voor zichzelf leaving in silence during the service in no mood for an unctuous lecture dying speaks for itself in het restaurant ben je toch wat schutterig zo arm in woorden rouwen vertraagt het spreken zeker tot na de kofe in the restaurant you falter a bit so poor in words mourning slows down speech at least till after coffee uiteindelijk volgt nog één glas op het rouwen vermoeidheid slaat toe overvaakte kinderen vallen bij bosjes inslaap in the end comes the last after mourning pint weariness hits home drowsy children fall asleep in droves vers gebakken brood naast ovenverse koeken aan lange tafels een verstilde rouwmaaltijd met wat omoerste stemmen A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 31 ~Innig / Intimate, cont. fresh baked bread and oven-fresh cakes on long tables a hushed mourning meal with some mufed voices bij de crematie geurig water sprenkelen terwijl rook opstijgt bloemenkransen neerleggen tijdens het wierookbranden at the cremation the sprinkling of fragrant water while smoke rises the laying down of wreaths during the incense burning tijdens de rondgang gedraai van gebedsmolens roffelende troms herinneren aan de dood en het vergankelijk zijn during the procession the turning of prayer mills rolling drums remind us of death and of being transient soms mijdt hij kerken omdat de geur van wierook het verleden wekt liever loopt hij op het strand al heeft dit ook een verhaal he avoids churches because the smell of incense wakes up the past he prefers walks on the beach though that too has a story in het atelier staan de boeddha’s op een kast tussen droogbloemen innig zijn de avonden met veel herinneringen in the workshop buddhas sit on a cupboard between dried owers intimate are the evenings with many memories na de rouwmaaltijd verdwijnt hij stil van tafel op de houten brug staart hij zwijgend naar de koi’s terwijl zijn lippen beven the mourning meal done he quietly leaves the table on the wooden bridge he tacitly watches koi his lips trembling oudejaarsavond met een glas wijn bijpraten met broers en zussen ma herleest de rouwprentjes van het afgelopen jaar new year’s eve catching up with a glass of wine with brothers and sisters ma rereads the obituaries of the past year A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 32 The tanka above are from INNIG, 2009, Geert Verbeke publisher (Tanka photo book). De tanka hierboven komen uit INNIG, 2009, Geert Verbeke uitgever (Tanka & fotobook). Geert Verbeke geboren in Kortrijk, waar hij nog altijd woont, 31 mei 1948. Kinderen: Hans (1969), Saskia (1972), Merlijn (1984) & Jonas (1986). Sinds meer dan 20 jaar hartsvriend van Joker-reisbegleidster Jenny Ovaere. Haikuholicus sinds 1968. Is agnost, republikein, fotograaf, tekenaar en schilder. Als dichter excelleert hij in het genre van de haibuns en de tanka’s. Hij hanteert daarbij, als schrander en transparant schrijver, milde ironie. kersenbloesems het koolmeesje heeft slechts oog voor koekkruimels op een bord over slangen: de mens, ze slaat ze dood cherry blossoms the titmouse has an eye for crumbs only on a sign about serpents: man, she beats them to death (Observed on the estate Rhijnauwen near my village Bunnik, The Netherlands) Buitenland een vergeten meander van de Schelde verdronken land van beemden dijken en moerassen Paul Mercken Paul Mercken, Flemish translator Al elf jaren staan er acht verkeerslichten op een kruispunt in het Belgische Kortrijk oranje te knipperen. (Einde zomer zal dit euvel hersteld zijn, totale kosten 690.000 euro.) Eleven years long eight trafc lights on a crossing in Belgium’s Kortrijk are ashing orange. (This will be remedied by the end of the summer at a total cost of more than 900,000 USD) (Over het gehucht Buitenland in de gemeente Bornem, België.) Foreign Countries a forgotten meander of the Scheldt drowned land of meadows dikes and marches (The hamlet Buitenland (‘Foreign Countries’) in Bornem, Belgium.) Paul Mercken, Belgische nationaliteit, is geboren te Leuven, België, in de zomer van 1934, maar groeide op in het Limburgse Hasselt. Hij studeerde wijsbegeerte aan de Leuvense universiteit waar hij in 1959 promoveerde. Hij deed postdoctoraal onderzoek in Cambridge, Oxford en Florence en doceerde in de Verenigde Staten en Nederland. Aan de Universiteit Utrecht A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 33 ~Mercken, cont. legde hij zich toe op de geschiedenis van de middeleeuwse wijsbegeerte en werd mediëvist. Hij heeft twee dochters, geboren in 1969 en 1970. Hij woont nabij Utrecht en is secretaris van de Haiku Kring Nederland. Hij noemt zich humanist en beschouwt dichten en de kunst van vertalen als krachtige middelen om bruggen te bouwen tussen mensen. Maurice De Clerck Maurice De Clerck, Dutch translator de tram naar moscou amper één blik wisselen een toevalstreffer prinses jouw naam ken ik niet wel het vuur in jouw ogen a streetcar to moscou exchanging a knowing glance just a lucky shot princess your name I don’t know just the re in your eyes ~Ghent, Flanders, Belgium “Moscou” in de Tanka slaat niet op de Russische hoofdstad maar op een voorstad van Gent, ironisch eveneens “Moscou” genoemd. Die naam heeft historische wortels. Voor en na Napoleons nederlaag (Waterloo 1815) was er een detachement van het Russisch Leger gestationeerd in een streek bij Gent. De Russische soldaten verdedigden Gent en de Franse Koning Lodewijk XVIII, die gastvrijheid genoot in de stad, tijdens de rellen die toen uitbraken. Momenteel loopt er in Gent een tramlijn van het Hoofdstation tot “Moscou”. Het was in een rijtuig van die lijn dat de “kortstondige ontmoeting” met de “Prinses” plaatsgreep. “Moscou” in the Tanka doesn’t refer to the capital of Russia, but to a suburb of Ghent, ironically also called “Moscou.” This name has historical roots. Before and after Napoleon’s defeat (Waterloo 1518) a detachment of the Russian Army was stationed in the elds near Ghent. The Russian soldiers defended Ghent and the French King Louis XVIII, staying as a guest in the town, during the disturbances at that time. Actually, there is in Ghent a streetcar line from the main railway station to “Moscou.” It was in a streetcar of this line that happened “the brief encounter” with the “princess.” ouder dan Kongo herinnert zich Nkasi nog het Matadi-spoor dat zijn vader hielp trekken want hij was ooggetuige older than Congo Nkasi still remembers the Matadi tracks his father helped build for he was a witness A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 34 Notes by Paul Mercken Etienne Nkasi, een van de bronnen voor David van Reybroucks 680 paginas tellende ‘Congo, een geschiedenis,’ 2010, stierf in het begin van dit jaar. Hij was geboren in 1882 en heeft in detail het werk beschreven waaraan zijn vader deelnam tussen 1895 en 1898, het jaar dat het project werd beëindigd. Hij verbleef gedurende die tijd bij zijn vader. Zijn oom, Joseph Zinga, onthulde hem het jaartal van zijn geboorte. Hij was een Doopsgezinde bekeerling en catechist, opgeleid in de Livingstone Inland Mission in Palaba (1877-1884), waardoor hij de christelijke kalender kende. Het is ongelooijk maar hij is waarschijnlijk de oudste mens die men ooit gekend heeft. De auteur is erg overtuigend. Hij onderstreept dat Etienne nooit probeerde hem van zijn leeftijd te overtuigen maar dat dit uit zijn gesprekken naar voren kwam precies zoals alles wat hij daarnaast vertelde. Mensen en plaatsen zowel als historische gebeurtenissen van de negentiende eeuw, die hij nooit in school kan hebben geleerd, want hij was niet geschoold, doken in zijn geheugen op en bleken uiteindelijk altijd te kloppen. Dit is een dubbel wonder, want niet alleen leefde hij gedurende meer dan vijf kwart eeuw, maar hij wist zijn geheugen min of meer intakt te bewaren. Zoals de auteur zegt, vergat hij – het kwam voor dat hij zijn bezoeker vergat – maar vervolgens vergat hij weer te vergeten. Etienne Nkasi, one of the sources of David van Reybrouck’s 680 pages Congo, een geschiedenis (Congo, a history), 2010, died early this year. He was born in 1882 and described in detail the work his father took part in between 1895 and 1898, the year the project was nished. He stayed with his father during that time. He was told his year of birth by his uncle, Joseph Zinga, who was a Baptist convert and preacher, trained at the Livingstone Inland Mission in Palabala (1877-1884) and therefore knew the christian calendar. It is unbelievable but he is probably the oldest human being ever known. The author is quite convincing. He insists that Etienne never attempted to convince him of his age but that it came out of their conversations just as everything else he told. People and places as well as historical events from the nineteenth century he could never have learned in school, not being an educated man, popped up in his memory and invariably checked out to be accurate. It’s a double miracle, for not only did he live more than ve quarters of a century, but he kept his memory more or less intact. As the author says: he did forget – it happened that he forgot he had a visitor – but then again he forgot to forget. Maurice De Clerck is op 13 okt. 1934 geboren in Gent (Vlaanderen, België). Hij studeerde Pedagogiek en Psychologie aan de Universiteit Gent. Gedurende 6 jaar werkte hij als Assistent in de NeuroP s y ch i a t r i s ch e K l i n i e k va n d e z e l f d e Universiteit. Nadien funktioneerde hij als K l i n i s ch P s y ch o l o o g i n e e n N e u r o Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis waar hij instond voor psychodiagnostiek en psychoterapie. In november 1995 ging hij met pensioen. Reeds tijdens zijn studies was hij geïnteresseerd in de Japanse kultuur en geschiedenis, en meer speciaal in het Boeddhisme en Zen. Die interesse leidde tot het kweken van bonsai en ‘last but not least’, het schrijven van Haiku, Tanka, Senryu en Kyoka. Tanka van hem verschenen in “Aan het woord”, een tweejaarlijkse uitgave van Haiku Kring Nederland/Haikoe-Centrum Vlaanderen, en één werd er opgenomen in ATPO 1. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 35 Bep Grootendorst Paul Mercken, Dutch translator Op tantes toilet realiseer ik me haar eenzaamheid als ik al die kruisjes op haar kalender tel. On aunt Jo’s toilet I realize her loneliness as I count the crosses on her calendar. ~Almere, The Netherlands Mierenzuur mag tegen reuma helpen maar in je blootje in een mierennest zitten is ook niet alles. enkele prijzen in Nederland en België. Werk van haar hand verscheen in meer dan 80 verzamelbundels. Maakte in eigen beheer enkele bundeltjes. Meer ligt op stapel. Mel Goldberg Mel Goldberg and Rebecca Kowalsky, Hebrew translators the full moon is different when I see footprints in the snow ~Jackson, Wyoming Formic acid may remedy rheumatism but try and sit bare assed in an ants’ nest! he-ray-ach hahm-low he-no shown kah-sher ah-nee row-ah eek-vote b’shelleg ~Amersfoortse berg, The Netherlands Bep Grootendorst, wonend in Oostkapelle, Nederland, schreef beroepshalve vele brieven en verslagen in het Nederlands en de moderne talen. Nadien als bestuurslid van een historische vereniging ook artikelen over geschiedenis en genealogie. Werd in 1989 bestuurslid van een kleine schrijversvereniging in Zeeland en s ch r i j f t s i n d s d i e n vo o ra l g e d i ch t e n , waaronder de laatste jaren veel haiku. Won my ink pen in the wash creates poems on the towel I cannot read A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 36 ~Goldberg, cont. aht hadeen shel-ee b’key-beese yo-tzayr she-reem ahl ah-mah-ge-vote ah-sher e-n’nee ekol l’ko-row a gossamer gown shimmering in sunlight the river hovers over a precipice chi-eleem-lom nas-peem mid-borim b’ets-mote sheh-bo-reem besh-po-teem haf-reh-tso-m hah-rihk-rihm shel eel-deem the tree stump discloses its history reminding us how much we do not know about our children ~Palmer, Alaska, USA ~Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, Wyoming, USA chot-tee hah-di-neem shel hah-sheemlah min-tsin-tsom bik-rono hach-moh hah-nar meer-chop mel ham-doron soldiers gather speaking broken bones their language the empty faces of children bol-hatz ah-cho-shawp aht ha-hos-tow-row sh’low mits-cheer l’no ch’mo ee-n’no yeed-eem oh-dote eel-d’no 6 .1985 1985 . , , . , . - , , . A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 37 ~Goldberg, cont. . , “The Cyclic path” “Choices” . Als ich erwachte sah ich meine Gedichte bei meinen Füßen im Bett schlafen I read menus in restaurants hoping they will tell me something important Ich lese Speisekarten in Restaurants in der Hoffnung dass sie mir etwas Wichtiges sagen Mel Goldberg Mel Goldberg and Peter Bernhardt, German translators my pencil writes words that teach me buried wishes live Meine Freundin schätzt mich Ich erinnere mich an sie als sie jung und schön war Mein Bleistift schreibt Wörter die mich lehren dass begrabene Wünsche leben when I awoke I saw my poems sleeping in bed at my feet my friend treasures me I remember her when she was young and beautiful in December I mourn the poems I did not write Im Dezember trauere ich mich um die Gedichte die ich nicht geschrieben habe A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 38 Mel Goldberg graduierte von der Universitaet mit einem Master of Arts Diplom in Englisch. Er war als Lehrer in Kalifornien, Illinois, Arizona und als ein Fulbright Austausch Lehrer in England beschaeftigt. 1990 hat er ein Buch mit Gedichten und Fotograen, The Cyclic Path, veroeffentlicht. Im Jahr 2000 publizierte er Sedona Poems fuer die Sedona, Arizona, Hundertjahrfeier. Sein Roman, Choices, und sein Buch von Kurzgeschichten, A Cold Killing, sind beide auf Kindle erhaeltlich. Seine Geschichten und Gedichte erscheinen in Zeitschriften und online in den USA, México, Grossbritannien und Australien. Sechs Jahre lang wohnte und reiste er von Alaska nach México in einem Wohnwagen. Er lebt jetzt in Ajiic, México. Peter Bernhardt wurde in Stuttgart geboren und ist dort aufgewachsen. Seine juristische Laufbahn in den USA schloss das Schreiben, Redigieren und Zivilprozesse ein von seinen Tagen als Chefredakteur des Tulsa Law Journal durch die Jahre als Rechtsanwalt in Privatpraxis und fuer das U.S. Bundesjustizministerium. Die ungewoehnlichen Lebenserfahrungen bilden die Grundlage seines ersten Romans, The Stasi File: Opera and Espionage. Der Roman war in der Endausscheidung fuer den Preis "Buch des Jahres 2009" und wurde in das Bestseller Chart der vom British Arts Coucil gesponsorten Site <http:// www.youwriteon.com> aufgenommen. Der Roman ist erhaeltlich bei Amazon/Kindle. Peter Bernhardt schreibt gerade an Teya’s Kiss: Opera and Artifacts, dem zweiten Roman in einer geplanten Serie. Der Autor kann ueber seine Website <http://sedonawriter.tripod.com> erreicht werden. Margaret Van Every Damascus Kafumbe, Luganda translator ery ellipse— full moonset in these mountains no different from sunset enkulungo eyefaananyiriza omuliro— amagwa g’omwezi ogw’egabogabo mu nsozi zino si maawufu ku magwa g’enjuba distant thunder rain curtain advancing our way over the lake never arrives ~Jalisco, México laddu ey’ewala eggigi ly’enkuba lyolekera gye tuli waggulu w’ennyania terituuka Listen to the poems at Tanka Central: <http://www.themetpress.com/ tankacentral/readings/> D a m a s c u s K a f u m b e av v u u n u d d e ebitontome ebitali bimu ebimanyiddwa nga 'tanka' ebya Margaret Van Every mu Luganda, olulimi olw'Abaganda abasibuka mu Uganda. Amanyiddwa nnyo nga omuwandiisi w’ennyimba, omuyimbi, era omukugu mu by’okukwata ennyimba z'ayimba nga akuba ebivuga eby’omubukiika dyo bw’eddungu elya Africa, bye yeebajjira n'emikono. Kafumbe asibuka mu Kampala, Uganda, naye kaakano abeera mu Tallahassee, Florida, nga amaliriza emisomo egya diguli ey’okusatu mu ethnomusicology mu Florida State University. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 39 Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah s a i l i n g o f y o ur fa ded i hear the engine of your bea t i ng aga in s the i ce the wi th the no trace even to air t h s n e in the l b e s m o i f r sea e heart t g o king w blizzard ofmemory playgr ound The moon oats in my wine’s glass. Between us A shadow coming forward And who to taste the red wine We are still waiting. pack your en) a long sha fall ) ( ing ter you skin cold ( dow ing A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 40 ~Ayiah Mensah, cont. SHADES OF SEASONS PACKED IN THE BOOKCASE MY SON STANDS IN FRONT DOES NOT KNOW WHICH ONE TO PICK AND SIT DOWN EMBRACING HER WAIST THE BARK OF BAOBAB TREE I REMEMBER TO CUT & PASTE MY KISSING & REMAIN SILENT an incandescent lava fountain— the sun turns bloodred— my memories smoulder father bill has arrived has his bath has his breakfast nephews&nieces play his toes & behind his war times i sketch the greeen plains stretching out from his jaws having reading building a poem from scraps of april . . . i see my ghost waking up in a tanka - or i compare you with the wingfailure of gull: thus, my lies mix with the rains these young & green cabbage runners along the mainroad just how painful their eyes must be in the night facing HEADLIGHTS ~Winneba, Ghana A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 41 Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, Fante translator w4ab4 no dua mu— dua no ntu …..mpon edwinsa eb1n nyi no ho ay1 dur kukubenkuka — nyew! August bosom w4 nkwans1n mu he has been put in the stocks— the tree … …cannot grow— what a handiwork is this— she is expecting a child aho4f1w tu w4 ture no mu— may1 tumm anaa tutuw— twaber beauty fades in the garden I am very black or dust— harvest time your head has been roofed with iron sheets you search to see whether a spyglass is sand or not food of tanka— yes! August month is in a soup-pot Nokwar, asaw yi y1 f1w! Kyr1 me kwan a Juvenal fa do no mu. Anna ndua nyina Apo anaa? Truly, this dance is beautiful! Show me The path Juvenal took. Is it that all the trees have shed their leaves? ~Winneba, Ghana woekur wo tsir do ky1nse wohwehw1 d1 hw1dze yi y1 anhwea anaa oho! A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 42 Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, Ewe translator Wait a little, It will not last long. In the middle of the year, At the end of his speech, It is a moonlight night. ^letiviwo le kekl8m. Gbe 2eka Matr4 va laa. Anye mael eve tso asia, *, edidi. Fi8 sia, Blewuu ^e le to 2om. Yi `g4 t8e Nye l7me gbl8. The stars are glittering. One day I shall be back soon. It is about two miles from here, Yes, it is far. The evening, Slowly The sun is setting. Go straight ahead I am indisposed. Dadaa tsi `ut4 Amea 2eke mekpena 2e e`u o. Edze es4sr— G4me 5e Adee nye sia. E5o ga ewo tututu. Ele kukum, Miame, 2usime, Viviti do`ut4, Dzome. It is exactly ten o’clock. It is dying, Left, right, It is very dark, December. Her mother is very old Nobody helps her. She has been Studying it For six years now. ~Winneba, Ghana Lalavie. Man4 anyi, didie o. Le 5ea 5e titian, Le e5e nu5o 5e nuwuwu, ^leti le 2i2im. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 43 Maria Steyn Maria Steyn, Afrikaans translator Chopin Etude . . . from the windows I watch jacaranda blooms claim this city of fences in an abandon of purple (1) Chopin Etude . . . deur die vensters sien ek hoe jakaranda bloeisels hierdie stad van mure verower in ‘n purper gloed old wives’ tales . . . or was it a tokoloshe who slid from the moonlit baobab to weave his mischief? (2) ouvrou stories . . . of was dit ‘n tokkelossie wat op ‘n maanstraal uit die kremetart gegly het om hier onheil te kom toor? power outage . . . the silence of autumn stars inside the house tiny spills of candle wax on an old book’s cover (3) kragonderbreking . . . die stilte van herfssterre in die huis klein poeletjies kerswas op ‘n ou boek se skutblad low summer light through sweet thorn trees one cow’s milk swishing into a pail by the clay and thatch hut (4) lae somerson deur soetdoringbome die enkel koei se melk skuimend in ‘n emmer by die klei en gras hut railway tracks glitter in the setting sun gold thread on which suburban trains run home to shanty towns (5) treinspore glinster met sonsondergang goue draad waarop Metroblits treine na townships huiswaarts keer ~South Africa (1 Kokako Tanka Contest, Commended, 2007) (2 Tanka Cafe: Member’s Choice, Ribbons, Spring 2009) (3 Eucalypt, "Earth Hour" Challenge, 2008) (4 Eucalypt "Year of the Ox" Challenge, 2009 - slightly altered version) (5 Eucalypt Issue 2, 2007) Maria Steyn woon in Johannesburg, Suid-Afrika. Sy behaal ‘n BA Honneursgraad in Filosoe, maar het ‘n beroep in taalonderrig gevolg wat haar in die middeltagtigerjare na Soweto geneem het en daarna na verskillende nie-rassige privaatskole. Haar tanka en haiku is in verskeie internasionale tydskrifte en bloemlesings gepubliseer. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 44 M. Kei Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, Twi (Akuapem), translator spitting up blood and writing tanka I think I know a thing or two about Shiki metew ntasu a mogya w4 mu saa tanka yi a mekyer1w yi mesusuw s1 menim bere bi fa Shiki ho the secret shame of my disease— my shock when a college friend dies of it— I know why she never told m’hintas1m a 1y1 aniwu no ne me yare— mehodwiriw me es1 yare no kum me sukuu adamfo— mihu nea enti a abeawa anka ho as1m Melville— not the great white whale but your restless heart I’ll take with me and bury in the sea Melville— ny1 bonsu k1se taa nanso ne koma y1 den me de no b1k4 na masie no w4 po mu grandma was a veteran the red of her cofn ag still crimson after all these years Me nanabea w4 osuahu pii frankaa k44 a esi n’adaka so no da so y1 k44 m pii akyi it hardly seems a new year, no frogs chorus its anthem, no crickets sing its glory afe yi nte s1 afe foforo, mp4tor4 nsu afe foforo dwom nni h4, ak1t1kire nnto ne anuonyam dwom no ~Maryland, USA M. Kei y1 Atlas Poetica ns1mma nhoma no samufo ne Take Five : Best Contemporary Tanka nhoma no samufo panyia. $ne Slow Motion: Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack nhoma no kyer1wfo. $y1 adwuma w4 po so hy1n tenten bi mu na nansa yi ara w4atintim ne nhoma, Pirates of the Narrow Seas, a ekura af7 horow ebi1sa a 1ka fa obi a 4y1 gee ho asem. $no ne Catzilla Tanka, Kyoka, and Gogyohka About Cats nhoma foforo no samufo. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 45 Bob Lucky Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, Twi (Akuapem) translator I’m trying to see the point of staying— if I sit just so the moon oats in my tea (Eucalypt 2, Summer 2007) Mesusuw ho nea enti a 1s1 s1 meka ha— s1 metena ase a es1 4sram tew me tee no ani strolling darkened streets afraid of what I might see through broken blinds (Eucalypt 7, Autumn 2009) Menantew br1w w4 akwan a sum ahy1 mu ma mesuro s1 mehu nea w4nhu slicing off the crown cutting out the eyes pineapple vendor— she points the knife at me and names her price otwitwa ti no mu nketewa tutu aniwa no aborob1 wura— de ne sekan no kyer1 me so na 4b4 ne bo I’m tired of being nice today my rudeness will bloom likeRafesia arnoldii (Eucalypt 7, Autumn 2009) Mabr1 ne papa a mey1 nn1 ahantan a mey1 no b1k4 so te s1Rafesia arnoldii this morning, not wanting to think the honeymoon’s over, I shake the milk bottle and the lid ies off again (Eucalypt 3, Autumn 2007) anopa yi, menp1 s1 mesusuw s1 adapen a edi aware ekyi no aba ewiei, mewosow nufusu towa no na ne ti no tu bio Bob Lucky te Hangzhou a 1w4 China, 1h4 na 4kyer1 abak4s1m. N’awens1m y1 nea e pue ns1mma nhoma ahorow pii mu. Watu k4 Ethiopia. (Eucalypt 3, Autumn 2007) A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 46 Sanford Goldstein Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, Twi (Akuapem), translator hospitalized again: I walk this narrow corridor in the autumn dawn, and once more the sudden gift of a stranger’s friendly face Meda k1t1 so bio w4 ayaresabea: mefa 4kwan hihiaa so w4 adekyee w4 asusow mu, mporim aky1de a e 4h4ho a 4y1 y4nko anim ni before the mirror in his dead mother’s long red dress, he feels, he sadly admits, she looked much better in it (Prune Juice 1. Winter 2009) ogyina ahwehw1 anim hye ne maame owufo no atade tenten k44, abrante no gye tom awer1how mu s1, ne maame ho y1 f1 Megyina me nanso s1 nanabarima a ne ho nhia pii, 4wofo a o tetet te me mu no y1 pii dodo all that noisy macho at the next table and I write this brief poem (Eucalypt 3, Autumn 2007) ne nyinaa 4ho4denfo a 4te1te1 mu a 4te pon ho mekyer1w saa awens1m ketewaa yi let my death be non transitional, unnoticed; let my three tanka in back take the driver’s seat one by one (Eucalypt 7, Autumn 2009.) Ma me wu ny1 4kwan a obiara nhu; ma me tanka abe1sa a megyaw no nfa hy1nkafo agua ~Niigata, Japan trying to remain again and again grandfather-peripheral, the long-ago parent in me bursting at the stitched seams (Eucalypt 3, Autumn 2007) Sanford Goldstein awens1m a 1ne tanka y1 nea w4atintim w4 nhoma ahorow mu daa b1y1 mfe b1boro aduanan ni. $ne akyer1wfo afoforo akyer1 tanka a Japanese tanka awens1m akyer1wfo kyer1w no ase ak4 kasa foforo mu. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 47 Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, Twi (Akuapem) translator m’ano popoe, na me ho nyinaa wosowee — w4kura kuruwa bi a nsu a emu adwo wom na 4maa me bi nom — 4p1 bere my lips quivered and my whole body shook— you had a jug of cool water and offered me to drink— Harmattan akokoaa no de ahurusi k1se, na mehwehw11 mu hw11 bere p4tee anaa bere ko a 4sram no y1 ne enum ma the baby rejoices greatly and i search for the time or exactly when the moon lls its mouth you are too far that I cannot come closer you lily of the eld can and let us cultivate intimacy in this spring meti mu nsusan sos4 f-w me running water in my head licks wet me nkukukakaa— w4 adakato no mu no na metow danfo no din a me ne no anantew mase odds and ends— in the empty box I name a friend I have walked with from the start ~Winneba, Ghana wow4 akyirikyiri na mentumi mm1n w4 wo wurm sukooko bra ma y1n di atririms1m w4 asusow mu A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 48 REVIEWS & ARTICLES Atlas Poetica welcomes book reviews and non-ction articles relevant to poetry of place. We accept non-ction submissions year round. Review: Weaver Birds, by Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi Reviewed by Patricia Prime Weaver Birds by Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi. Ginninderra Press, 2010. PO Box 3461, Port Adelaide 5015, Australia. <http://www.ginninderrapress.com.au> 139 pp. ISBN 978 1 74027 607 8 It has been an interesting experience to read, for this review, the work of two talented tanka poets. The poets are of different backgrounds: Amelia Fielden is an Australian poet and translator of Japanese literature. Saeko Ogi moved to Australia from Japan after the death of her husband and has been teaching Japanese for twenty-ve years. Weaver Birds is their rst creative collaboration. It contains tanka they wrote to each other through 2009, each poet composing in her rst language, then translating and responding to the other poet’s tanka. The collection covers the twelve months of the year, showcasing both poets’ different perspectives and commonalities. There are similarities in their writing. Their English/Japanese translations are homogenous; technique is very similar, as are the themes, and what is made of them echo each other. One has a clear sense of the legacy of Japanese tanka in this collection, and a long shadow of tradition lies across their poems. The two poets write about love, nature, time and relationships over the passage of a year. Their tanka are personal and profound, which is to say that you need to not merely read their words but their minds! The poems cast a spell over the ordinary, and hold truth up to the light. The tanka are drawn from a year-long correspondence and they make up an intriguing, moving and impressive body of work. The language is informal and prosaic, conversational often. The speakers are predominantly reective, mulling over memories of family, nature and places visited. Indeed, the tanka are often anecdotes of rural or urban life, dealing with people, animals and incidents, recalled, reected on and A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 49 brooded over by intelligent people full of sympathy with those they speak of. Here are two examples of this kind of tanka, one from each poet: here, beside the sea where you were living I hear you in the voices of those who celebrate your life Saeko Ogi in the beginning the scent of the ocean Sydney’s blue skies my grandmother singing her Irish lullabies Amelia Fielden These anecdotal tanka frequently involve aging and death: I sense you whenever I enter a library or secondhand bookstore my father, the reader Amelia Fielden shouldn’t I let go of Garfunkel records I never listen to, together with those dreams of my younger self Both poets contribute many tanka about nature, particularly animals: living in my home without a companion’s voice I enjoy the occasional intrusion of next door’s cat Saeko Ogi every night some dog barking nearby sirens sounding urban emergencies: homestay in Setagaya Amelia Fielden Tanka allows the poets to evoke and speculate on the unexpected and unearned beauty of the natural world, a kind of grace that exalts the everyday for a brief time. Such tanka have in common with others a sense of the suggestiveness, the transcendent implications of particular experiences. The following tanka mark the poets delight in the small details of life: drinking in the nostalgic smell of Canberra rain before it stops again in no time at all Saeko Ogi Saeko Ogi A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 50 after night rain a silver sickle moon on grey sky . . . such delight these days in the details of life why wear black? let’s illuminate winter with ame colours . . . and please, no white lilies at my funeral Amelia Fielden Amelia Fielden Here are wise poems on love and loss, longing and regret, aging and death; beautifully observed, affectionate tanka about the poets’ Australian and Japanese backgrounds; sharply witty tanka about human frailty; tanka that look back to the past and forward to the future, all expressed in language that is superbly balanced and nely judged. Many of the recorded experiences are simply themselves, presented without amplication, but rich in some kind of ambiguous signicance: childhood partner in playing jacks, my brother . . . though he has gone the sleeves of his sweater comfort and warm me Saeko Ogi Children’s Day: we senior citizens bathe in the warmth of this lively chatter, this hustle and bustle Saeko Ogi One tanka, among many, that well represents Fielden’s art is Note the largely informal language, the free rhythm, the gure, the sorrow, the transience. Saeko Ogi’s tanka is notable for its references to the land of her birth, Japan. She made the life-changing decision to seek permanent residence in Australia, but often she remembers her home and gives us some nostalgic tanka: as I observe the chrysanthemums buried in dead leaves, my mind xes on elds of spring rice sprouts Saeko Ogi This ne new collection of tanka is rich in the themes that have made the works of these two ne poets so admired. The collection reviewed here is representative of both poets’ work and is both contemporary and traditional, containing personal lyrics that can light up the material and emotional world, and give it a powerful resonance. Weaver Birds makes one realize what powerful and engaging poets both Fielden and Ogi are: it is a substantial addition to the work of two of the best and subtlest of contemporary tanka poets. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 51 Review: Margaret Van Every’s A Pillow Stuffed With Diamonds, Tanka on La Vida Mexicana Reviewed by Neil Schmitz With its syllabic restriction, its lines at ve, tanka, American tanka, demands compression, must have always a certain irony, a certain rue, therefore has special effects the formalist admires. Tanka gives us epiphanies, distillations, gives us the click of a camera, this moment, this very moment, caught here forever. Personal narrative, a life, written in tanka poetry, is perforce a series of poetic instances, each instance itself, for separate pondering, yet the whole of it, the sets of instances, a single long poem, a nal summary statement. Mexican proverbial speech gives Margaret Van Every her title: A Pillow Stuffed With Diamonds. Some Mexican says: “The gringa protests / she has no fear / of the thief who comes in the night, / but why does she sleep / on a pillow stuffed with diamonds?” In a sense, this is the exemplary speech of native speakers commenting on the delusions of the master class, its hypocrisies, also adding a note of menace. Mexican proverbial speech knows where the diamonds are. When Mexican proverbial speech makes off with a treasured ring, it leaves behind a message written in awless English: “’Theft’ does not exist / in the Mexican lexicon. / The goods in question / are merely liberated / or redistributed.” The title is indeed taut with oxymoronic tension. Pillow stuffed with diamonds is also a gure from Holocaust language, the pillow you clutched as you were shoved into a boxcar in Budapest, so that one looks from the title to the rst tanka and sees a very somber beginning: “Crossing this frontier, / hearts pound, palms sweat, / We dread we’ll get the red light, / strangers will unlock our bags, / rie through our secrets.” Central European mid-century experience, expatriation, exile, living within walls, an alienated minority, living always slightly menaced, alert to looks and gestures, everywhere informs Van Every’s Mexican life. We step from its context, what secrets are in their bags, and then we are in country, desert and mountain, the country instantly sexualized. “Beyond the river, / desert stretches out full length, / sensuous woman who hates sex. / Mountains thrust up / to indifferent sky.” Add sex to the menace. A later set of tanka deftly deal with this issue. Here it is, rst image, extraordinary phrasing, again oxymoronic in its statement, the erotic ideal of a certain Latin machismo, yet also recumbent majesty, desert and mountain. You crossed the frontier, bags (with their diamonds) not searched, and here you were, in this country. No long prosy sentences, no connectives, no context, personal narrative in tanka poetry does without these helpful devices. Its narrative ow is cinematic, the writer visualizes, does visual thinking, and we can see the tanka as frames, as shots, in a sequence. For example, tanka 7-10 bring us to a market and we are abruptly among beggars, the rst a little girl: “In the crush of the market / a tug at your sleeve. / Invisible waif, / barefoot on cobblestones, / earns A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 52 her next comida.” A blind beggar holds his English sign: “This is a good day but I can’t see it.” There is a jostle of beggars, it might be said, before the writer can turn to the jouissance of the market, the next set of tanka. The last beggar is a woman: “This beggar doesn’t beg; / her cup does all the asking. / Her job is to smile. / Tissue folded in the cup / mufes the unseemly clink.” What does this shot, this frame, say? You are thinking about it, and, cut, we are in the exuberance of the market: “To the tianguis / for frutas y verduras! / To the tianguis / for amor de vendedores! / Sonrisas y besos gratis!” The market tanka are almost bilingual, languages mingling, Mexican voices, the cool Anglo of the principal narrator. We have crossed a frontier, come into this strange desert and mountain country, come past these medieval beggars, probably beggar artists, the silent one with the tissue in the coin cup, into the teeming vivid market which is, to a very large extent, our nal destination. We are at home here. Next, again a radical cut, not at home here: “The gate that keeps them out / keeps us in. / Like alacranes, those beyond the pale / will come to us over the wall.” A mid-century central European spectre positively looms in this set of tanka. The wall will not sufce. A Mexican voice in these tanka calls the narrator “gringa, ” her only name in A Pillow Stuffed With Diamonds, a depersonalizing name, and this speaker also knows what’s in the gringa’s pillow, transportable wealth, the refugee’s hoard. This critical Mexican speaker has other hard things to say later in the text. In tanka 55: “Lunching gringas / ravenous for the fat life, / choose México / to pile high the plate, / followed with cajas para llevar.” Parasites. It has the dull clangor of an obscure anti-semitism. A treasured ring goes missing. In the street, vigilance. Still, “los hombres incognitos / stalk the gringa home.” Gringa names the problem in A Pillow Stuffed With Diamonds, says not-Mexican, in this narrative, this Mexican life. As we shall see, Van Every returns to it at the end of her poetic narrative. What follows are vignettes from an ordinary double life, at once expatriate, retired, gated, yet also out there in country, in town, in the countryside. Though an ill spoken “gringa” recurs, these tanka mostly register the pleasures of inhabitation. “Every day the dust! / She icks water on the oor / then deftly wields / her broom of bundled branches / before earth reverts to dust.” We see schoolchildren at play. We are in town at a restaurant. Other expatriate, retired, gated people eat here. “Some have ed the cold. / some, humidity and heat. / Others left the stress — / to nd they can’t endure / the ennui of Paradise.” In the bedroom, wafted through an open window, the odor of jasmine and skunk. It is a montage of takes, this section of tanka, some of which are immensely quiet, not all displeased with stillness. I like: “Hurricane blown by, / lake a pewter mirror. / An egret rests / in stark arms of a dead tree. / Dad and son scavenge the littered beach.” It is a ‘Mexican’ life reported here, a life in México, the México of horses and goats, of curious rubbish, the writer’s eye catching the instance. In the nal tanka those original Mexican guys, Moctezuma, Chac Mool, A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 53 and Huitzilopochtli, address the writer. Gringo/gringa has a history. Cortez and his little army come into ancient México, “expats with beards from afar.” Some part of present day ancient México still believes Quetzalcoatl will rise from Lake Chapala, is still living an unsubdued Mexican life. These last several tanka mark the writer’s distance from that deep Mexican thing, Indian memory, the heart on the platter “at pyramid’s peak, ” blood memory, and yet suppose, for all that, still, a Mexican life. In the last poem the writer addresses these Mexican divinities: Moctezuma, Chac Mool, Huitzilopochtli: “Will this be my home / or will I always be gringa? / My heart is open / on Huitzilopochtli’s platter. / What more is there to give?” It is a prayer, a poet’s prayer. What they will say to it, how they will answer this prayer, more poetic narrative, more tanka, will disclose. Will I always be gringa? The writer will do the radical Mexican thing. México is to answer “What more is there to give?” A Pillow Stuffed With Diamonds is a transnational narrative, that of an American Mexican life, written in the form of Japanese tanka poetry. It is dialogical, bilingual, polyphonic really, and yet, curiously, no one is named in the text. There is a Raúl and a Chuy, but that is pretty much it. We are right there in that market, coming in past the beggars, the last cup with its tissue cushion, but where is this market, in what town, where in México? Desert and mountain. Look for the region that looks like a “sensuous woman who hates sex.” Google that. Van Every refuses to answer the identifying questions, who are you, where do you live. It is a distinctive feature of the text. We have to see it as part of a cultural negotiation going on in her poetic project. So there she is, notgringa, beautifully put in this book. What is next? What does México say? Review: The Time of This World: 100 Tanka from 13 collections of Kawano Yko Reviewed by Patricia Prime The Time of This World: 100 Tanka from 13 collections of Kawano Yko, selected by Oshima Shivo, translated by Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi. Modern English Tanka Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. 2010. ISBN 978-193539815-8. $US9.95 The Time of This World contains translations by Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi of 100 tanka selected by well-known poet and critic, Oshima Shiyo, from thirteen of Kawano Yko’s major collections. The tanka range from the love lyrics of Kawano Yko’s earliest published book to the thoughts of a young mother living in the USA, to the mature reections of later years when she was confronted by the death of her mother, and the resurgence of her own cancer, rst diagnosed in 2000. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 54 The Time of This World is a poetic page-turner in the best possible sense as each tanka, stark, haunting and beautiful, ventures into a key stage of the poet’s life. Love, laughter, loss, illness and death ll this collection with energy and insight, which encourages and rewards reection. The range of interests in Kawano Yko’s tanka is enviably wide, as is the way in which she overcomes the challenges of the tanka form to achieve its delights. Her tanka reveal a great depth of understanding of the memories, thoughts and events of her life. We are also presented with many moving insights into personal and family life and the love that animates it at its best, as we see in the following two tanka from the collection Like a Forest, Like a Wild Beast (1972): after the birth this mother is hearing deep in her ears the clear-toned shrill of a kanakana cicada your lips opened to start speaking, are moist— don’t marry me yet a while The world of marriage is revealed in Bindweed (1976): close to the lamp I wiped dust from your eye— unbidden came the vivid realization ‘I am a wife’ stretched against your slumbering back, my arm this lonesome night seems to link us In The Cherry Blossom Forest (1980), Kawano Yko invites us into the emotional space of bringing up children and we see how distraught she becomes at the father’s punishment of the children: holding you two children in my arms I still have space to include your father’s emotions hitting you hitting the kids— oh, my hand’s on re . . . frantically loosening my hair I go off to bed In The Spirited Male (1984) she writes about life with her husband and children: this, nothing but this is our family— the two kids in place between us we climb the hill path A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 55 Koh (1991) sees the young mother living temporarily in the USA: even in the kitchen a US map on the wall . . . it’s as if we have lived in this country since our forefathers’ time In Time Passes (1995), the poet’s children are growing up and she recalls the rift which has arisen between herself and another: we spoke of the one who had left us being more distant than a dead person— at night, the white magnolia Again we see the poet’s child in Vital Forces (1998). Her son is becoming a man and is able to do small jobs for her around the home: is this what a son is? a whole head taller he is hammering the nail for me The tanka in Home and Family (2000) take on a more relaxed attitude, for here the poet writes about other members of the family: a nephew comes two nieces come, then another nephew— I add more square biscuits and set them out To Walk (2001) concentrates on Kawano Yko’s illness as she strives to recover from surgery: no-one knows my chest was cut open horizontally— I put on a shawl, walk through the light snow In My Tanka Diary (2002), time has passed and the poet gradually becomes aware of the aging process and way in which her body is losing its former tautness: when I gradually raise my body from its prone position I am conscious of my sack-shaped stomach Markers of the Seasons (2004) sees the poet trying to overcome her loneliness: she compares herself to an ‘empty bucket’ and has now only the mundane chores, such as carrying home a cabbage, to keep her occupied: chatting too much I am left with nothing and now I roll around like an empty bucket A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 56 what will loneliness nally do to me? beneath the blue sky I go along carrying a cabbage In Garden (2004), the poet’s children have left home: now that we are just the two of us again, we eat our meals with piles of bowls and plates behind us The poet is confronted with the death of her mother in The Maternal Line (2008): appearance, every now and then, of a longer line seems to be in tune with the emotional rhythm of the story behind the tanka, as we see in the following poem: on a windy day when I leave the house, “hey you” call the groves from both sides, squeezing me between them K awa n o Yk o ’s wo r d s i n t h i s collection will surely invigorate all who read or write tanka. She is an immediately accessible poet, and one who has established a rm reputation over many years. Kawano Yko’s poetic voice draws on the tradition of Japanese tanka. The tanka spark off each other, creating a journey from cover to cover that should not be missed. being with this person in the time of this world, forehead pressed against forehead I pass into her living creatures are all alone when dying, and even for dying one needs strength The intensity of the tanka is assisted by pace. These tanka snap and crackle w i t h s h o r t b r e a t h l e s s l i n e s . Th e A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 57 Chronology and Tanka Kisaburo Konoshima David Callner, Japanese translator and editor The ‘Chronology’ and tanka appeared in Hudson : A Collection, by Kisaburo Konoshima, translated by his grandson, David Callner, (2004). Hudson was originally published in Japanese by Hakuyo Shoin in 1970. Callner has annotated the Chronology slightly. April 26, 1893 – Konoshima was born in Yamato-mura, Gifu prefecture (Konoshima believed he was actually born in 1892, and that his parents were late in registering his birth) to Mitsugoro a n d F u d e Ko n o s h i m a . K i s a b u r o Konoshima was the youngest of seven children, ve boys and two girls. Mitsugoro and Fude Konoshima were farmers as were all of the people in their village. Kisaburo’s grandfather’s family owned a great deal of land and they were known as the House of Niemon. Mitsugoro was poor at business affairs and gradually lost most of the family land. By the time Kisaburo was born the Konoshimas were barely making a living as farmers. Konoshima attended grammar school in Yamato-mura for eight years (grammar school was divided into two four-year periods) from the age of six, missing one year because the family could not afford to send him. Konoshima also briey attended a grammar school in H a ch i m a n . Th e p r i n c i p a l o f t h e Hachiman Higher Elementary and Junior High School was a former samurai of the Aoyama Clan (the clan that had ruled the Hachiman area from a castle there) named Shigeru Johara. Johara encouraged Konoshima to continue his education and urged him to pursue an academic life. 1908 – At the age of fteen Konoshima left for Tokyo to attend high school with the dream to "Study Under Adversity and Rise Up in the World". He took a job in a Setagaya post ofce for seven sen a day plus food and lodging. About six months later Konoshima heard about the Aoyama Gakuen Roudo-Kai, a Tokyo high school where students could work and go to school. Konoshima worked his way through high school, and later through college as well, delivering milk with a pull-cart mornings and evenings. He would get up at three o’clock every morning to milk and care for the cows and prepare the milk for delivery. Konoshima rst met Yoshi Tomita, later to become his wife, at the Aoyama Gakuen Roudo-Kai. She continued to work there while Konoshima transferred to another branch, and the two began corresponding. 1913 – Konoshima graduated from Tokyo’s Seijou Chuugaku (the equivalent of today’s high school). He considered going into medicine but was discouraged by his teachers who told him it would be A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 58 too difcult to work his way through medical school. Eventually he decided to go into teaching and enrolled in Kyoto’s Doshisha University. Yoshi Tomita meanwhile returned to her home and under pressure from her family married a man named Maruyama. The marriage lasted only six months, and at Konoshima’s suggestion she enrolled in Doshisha University’s nursing school. Konoshima never forgot the hardships he endured to secure an education, and up to his death he sent money to his native village where he established scholarships for needy students. October 12, 1915 – Konoshima and Yoshi Tomita were married at the DouboKyokai Christian Church in Kyoto. 1919 – As soon as Konoshima graduated Doshisha University with a degree in Economics he received many teaching offers. He accepted a position at the Shokumin-Gakko in Tokyo. The Shokumin-Gakko was founded by Hisae Sekiyama to prepare students for emigration, something that Sekiyama and his backers thought necessary in a postwar depressed and overpopulated Japan. Konoshima taught political economics. After teaching at the ShokuminGakko for two years Konoshima was sent by the school on an eighteen month tour of inspection, scouting schools, living and working conditions in Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. Konoshima then returned to the Shokumin-Gakko and taught for another year. 1924 – Konoshima’s next assignment was to tour the United States. He left for America the January after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Konoshima had become disenchanted with teaching at the Shokumin-Gakko, partly because of bickering within the university. En route to America he reected on his professional life. He felt strongly that he was inadequate as an educator. He determined to resign from the teaching profession and to live from his own sweat and the soil. Directly after landing in America Konoshima found work as a laborer on a farm in Stockton, California. He then sent for his wife and four children to join him. After working as a laborer for eleven years Konoshima and his family moved to Santa Clara, California, where he and another Japanese man began their own independently managed farm. 1941 – When Konoshima’s enterprise had reached the point of being well under way, the Pacic War broke out. Submitting to the decree that all people of Japanese descent vacate the coast, the partners were forced to sell the fruit and truck farm for a pittance. Ko n o s h i m a ’s f a m i l y w a s r s t consigned to a stable at the Santa Anita race track and then moved to the relocation camp in Heart Mountain, Wyoming. They were conned there for four years. 1946 – In January following the war’s end, Kisaburo and Yoshi moved to New York city where they found work as domestics. From then on Konoshima devoted himself to his children’s schooling, all the while writing his poetry. 1950 – Konoshima became a member of Cho-on. Cho-on is a poetry society founded in 1915, in Kamakura, Japan. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 59 December 1955 – Konoshima and his wife were naturalized as American citizens. March 1963 – Konoshima retired, and for the rest of his life composed tanka and cared for his collection of Japanese art and antiques. This collection is now part of the Herbert R. Johnson M u s e u m a t C o r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y. Konoshima lived in New York City. 1970 – Konoshima and his wife moved to Philadelphia to live with their daughter and son-in-law, Carolyn and Richard Callner, and later moved with them to Albany, New York. 1978 – Konoshima and his wife moved to the warmer climate of Honolulu to live with their daughter, Sumiye Konoshima. O c t o b e r 6 , 1 9 8 4 – K i s a b u r o Konoshima died in Honolulu at the age of ninety-one, two years after the death of his wife. 1951 なげうてば幹に砕くる雪つぶて発止と散りてわが心晴る I ing a snowball and it bursts against a tree trunk scattering with a whack my spirits brighten 空かんをひたぶる磨く小猿あり歌思ひつつ我佇めば A little monkey earnestly polishes an empty can as I stand there pondering verse み空ゆく雲の翳りの時として心の隈をよぎる寂しさ As the darkening from a cloud crossing the sky now and then a passing loneliness shades my heart 昨日は夢明日は幻影ひたぶるに今日一日を生きんとぞ思ふ Yesterday is a dream — tomorrow an illusion I think I shall live this one day in earnest A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 60 1952 ほろ酔の顔を撫でゆく春の風わが末娘今宵嫁ぐも The spring breeze caresses my tipsy face in passing O my youngest daughter marries this evening 六人の吾が子等はみな世に迂速し父の子なりと老妻は断ず Our six children are all estranged from the world for being their father’s children — concludes my aged wife 路の辺に伏すは死骸か酔どれかながし目にみて紐育人は過ぐ Prostrate on the roadside — a dead body or a drunkard? with sidelong glances New Yorkers go by 噪音の汚塊となりて 紐育七百万の神の子等住む New York has become a lthy mass of noise seven million children of God live here 自由平等を国是となせど黒人は汽車に乗るにも差別せられて Freedom and equality are national policy but the black man suffers discrimination just to ride a train 1955 石段にルンペン憩ふ教会の扉は堅く閉ぢ夏陽かたぶく On stone steps rests a tramp — the church door is closed tight the summer sun goes down 1956 もうこれが逢の最後と泣く姉にかかと笑へどわが声うつろ My sister weeps that this is our nal meeting I laugh "ha ha" — but my voice is hollow A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 61 1958 嗚咽する我に眼覚めぬその夢のなになりしかは既に忘れて I awake to nd myself weeping what the dream was about I have already forgotten 1960 アメリカが世界に恥づべき最悪の恥辱記念日八月六日 America is brought to shame before the world on the anniversary of evil disgrace — August six 空と海なかばなかばに陽を別ち雲はほのほを吹き波は血を漂はす Sky and sea divide the sun half and half the clouds emit ames — the waves oat blood 蒼空を黒く伸し来て大かもめ水面におりたち真白に光る A large gull sweeps in blackly across the blue sky descends onto the water and shines absolutely white 1964 喜怒愛憎愉楽苦悩の終止符に死を与へたる神は愛なり At the end of joy and anger — love and hatred — pleasure and suffering God is love who gives us death 枯葉ひとつ我を追ひきぬ音たてて初秋の巷用なくて歩む A single withered leaf follows me making noise as I walk the early-autumn street with nothing to do 1965 何もして居ないのだよと答ふれば結構な身分でと運転手は嗤ふ A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 62 When I reply — "I don’t do anything!" the cabbie laughs — "That’s a ne position!" クリスマスを間近に控へ幼児九人おとな三人が災火に呑まる With Christmas waiting just ahead nine little children and three adults are swallowed up in a re 煙の中を探し求めしか相擁しうずくまりて死に居たり孫等兄妹は Did they search through the smoke? crouching in each other’s arms my grandson and granddaughter are dead 起きて泣き臥して又泣き室を変へて老の涙は渇く術を知らず I rise and weep — lie down and weep again — I change rooms how to dry up this old man’s tears I do not know 1966 灰色に浮氷動かずハドソンは丘真黒く夕月かか Over an ashen Hudson motionless with oating ice the evening moon rests on jet-black hill 四月一日を嘘つかぬ日と定めんか年に一日の信あらすべく Why not designate April Fool’s a day not to lie? there should be one day a year for faith 1967 さんさんと春陽そそぎて公園のベンチに老醜の顔ならびたり On a park bench bathed in radiant spring sunshine ugly old faces are side by side A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 63 1968 世が世なり胆太くあらんなど思ひ額縁のゆがみ直し居る我 The world has its ways — one must have pluck — and so on I muse as I straighten a crooked picture frame 空も泣けハドソンよ怒れ我も亦共に怒らむ共に嘆かむ Cry also the sky! Rage O Hudson! I too will rage — together I will grieve 1969 ぱりぱりとコーンをかじる老妻を少し憎めり我は義歯にて I hate my aged wife a little as she munches corn with a crunching I with false teeth 1970 春雪の降り残したる庭たずみ小さき雪片音もなく吸ふ After a spring snow — garden puddles absorb little snowakes without sound 眠れぬままに闇に描ける妄想はいつのまにやら夢につながる Unable to sleep — before I know it fantasies pictured in the dark turn into dreams 虫けらと同じ生理をわれも持ち虫けらのごと時にふるまふ I have the same physiology as a bug on occasion I behave like a bug A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 64 Bespreking Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka 2008 & Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka Vol. 2 Paul Mercken [English translation follows the Dutch original.—Ed.] Dit artikel verscheen al in Vuursteen, het eerste deel in de lente 2010, het tweede in de herfst. Aangezien alle gedichten tweetalig zijn, citeer ik de Nederlandse versie ervan in het Nederlandstalige artikel en de Engelse in het Engelstalige en vernoem ik de bronnen slechts in dit laatste. 1. M. Kei (USA), Sanford Goldstein (Japan), Pamela A. Babusci (USA), Patricia Prime (NZ), Bob Lucky (China) en Kala Ramesh (India) [red.], Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka 2008, Modern English Tanka (MET) Press, Baltimore USA 2009. $ 16,95 USD + $ 15,verzendkosten (samen ongeveer € 21,60). Het 238 pagina’s tellende boek bevat 321 individuele tanka’s, zes tanka series en vijf tanka-haibuns van in totaal 138 auteurs. De redactie selecteerde deze uit meer dan honderd Engelstalige bronnen (tijdschriften, bloemlezingen, wedstrijden, bundels, websites, online tijdschriften, blogs en dergelijke) en las meer dan 14.000 gedichten, alle in 2008 verschenen. Ze maken zich sterk zowat alle in dat jaar gepubliceerde tanka’s te hebben bekeken. Alexis Rotella, toen nog de hoofdredacteur van Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu and Kyoka, getuigt dat ze na het lezen van deze boeiende anthologie niet meer wist of ze een vrouw, een monnik of een pelikaan was. Van Frans Terryn en Geert Verbeke van het Haikoe-centrum Vlaanderen en van ondergetekende van de HKN is één tanka elk opgenomen en vier van de uit de Filippijnen afkomstige maar in Nederland wonende Ella Wagemakers, geboren Sanchez (inmiddels ook lid geworden van de HKN). Allerzielen. Een late vlinder daalt neer op je grafsteen; zou men ook in jouw wereld eenzaamheid kunnen voelen? Frans Terryn Dit gedicht verscheen al in Vuursteen, lente 2009, onder ‘Vonkjes’, als eerste prijs van de Tanka Splendor Awards competitie. ik mors wat wijn zodat ik je kan aanraken onopgemerkt dacht ik tot pa grijnzend vraagt of jij mijn liefje bent Geert Verbeke stofg door de klim zingen voor de zon die rijst Nippons monniken vreemder zaken zag men hier op die bergtop Sinaï A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 65 Paul Mercken Vier tanka’s van Ella Wagemakers gaan over het wees zijn, armoede, ouderdom en ziekte. Ziehier de tweede: een knoop zetten in een oud hemd heel die tijd het voortdurend gebrek aan alles Ella Wagemakers Mij viel het betrekkelijk groot aantal gedichten op over dood, ziekte en ouderdom. Wellicht leent tanka zich meer tot ‘negatieve’ thema’s dan haiku. Hier een in mijn vertaling: Oude man— eerst vraagt hij om te sterven, dan om een broodje ham. bronnen, waarvan Twitter alleen in 2009 meer dan 2.000 tanka’s leverde. Twitter bereikt evenveel lezers als de MET Press, maar slechts voor korte duur. Gelukkig wordt dit euvel weer goedgemaakt door archiverende online tijdschriften zoals Dragony Archives, die daaruit weer herpubliceren. Slechts één Nederlander en één Vlaming hebben dit volume gehaald: Alex von Vaupel uit Utrecht, zelf technisch directeur van Atlas Poetica, en de opnieuw Geert Verbeke uit Kortrijk. jij wil praten maar ik heb niets te zeggen rond onze stilte valt regen herfst . . . de bladeren en al het andere uiteen zien vallen . . . telkens weer Alex von Vaupel (mijn vertalingen, PM) Alexis Rotella 2. M. Kei (USA), Sanford Goldstein (Japan), Patricia Prime (NZ), Kala Ramesh (India), Alexis Rotella (USA) & Angela Leuck (Canada) [red.], Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka Vol. 2 2009, Modern English Tanka (MET) Press Baltimore USA 2010. Dit tweede volume telt 202 pagina’s en bevat 387 individuele tanka’s, zes tanka-haibuns en zes tanka series van in totaal 139 auteurs. De samenstellers lazen meer dan 16.000 tanka’s uit meer dan 140 bronnen. De inleiding, ‘Tanka in het elektronisch tijdperk’, schrijft deze uitbreiding toe aan de groei van digitale wind heeft vrij spel ijspegels groeien snel tot scherpe naalden pa neuriet een wiegelied uit lang vervlogen dagen Geert Verbeke De index is gerangschikt naar de éérste letter van de opgegeven naam, hetgeen voor westerse namen, dat is het ove r g r o t e d e e l , b e t e k e n t d a t d e voorletters/voornamen de plaats in de index bepalen in plaats van, zoals gebruikelijk, de achternamen. Dit is gedaan met het oog op de multi-etnische namen waarvan lastig is vast te stellen A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 66 welk deel de familienaam vertegenwoordigt. Vooralsnog vind ik dit een onhandige oplossing. *** Review Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka 2008 & Ta k e F i v e . B e s t Contemporary Tanka Vol. 2 Paul Mercken Paul Mercken, Dutch translator This article appeared already in Dutch in Vuursteen, the rst part Spring 2010, the second Autumn 2010. Since all poems are bilingual, I have quoted their Dutch version in the Dutch article and I quote now the English version in the English article and I mention the sources only in the latter. 1. M. Kei (USA), Sanford Goldstein (Japan), Pamela A. Babusci (USA), Patricia Prime (NZ), Bob Lucky (China) and Kala Ramesh (India) [eds.], Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka 2008, Modern English Tanka (MET) Press Baltimore USA 2009. $16.95 USD + $15. + shipping to Europe (together approximately €21.60). This volume of 238 pages contains 3 2 1 i n d iv i d u a l t a n k a , s i x t a n k a sequences and ve tanka haibun by in total 138 authors. The editorial board made this selection from more than one hundred English-language sources (journals, anthologies, competitions, collections, websites, online journals, web logs and so on) and read more than 14,000 poems, all from 2008. They make out a case for having read nearly all publications of that year. Alexis Rotella, at the time still editor in chief of Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu and Kyoka, testies that after reading this fascinating anthology she didn’t know any more whether she was a woman, a monk or a pelican. Take Five contains one tanka each by Frans Terryn and Geert Verbeke of the Flemish Haiku Center as well as one by myself, a member of the Dutch Haiku Society, and four by Ella Wagemakers, née Sanchez, who originates from the Philippines but lives in the Netherlands and since became a member of the Dutch Haiku Society. All Souls’ Day. A late buttery comes down on your tombstone; I wonder if loneliness can be felt in your world too Frans Terryn From Tanka Splendor Awards, AHA Books, Gualala Cal., 2008 Appeared rst in Vuursteen, Spring 2009, section ‘Vonkjes’ (‘Sparklets’), rst prize of the Tanka Splendor Awards competition. I spill some wine so that I can touch you unnoticed I thought until dad asks me grinning if you are my sweetheart Geert Verbeke From Tanka, India: Cyberwit, 2008 A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 67 dusty from the climb they chant to the rising sun the monks from Japan stranger things have happened here on top of Mt. Sinai Paul Mercken From Atlas Poetica, vol. 1, Baltimore MD, 2008 Ella Wagemakers’ four tanka are about being an orphan, poverty, old age and illness. This is the second one: sewing a button onto an old shirt all this time the persistent need to make ends meet Ella Wagemakers From MET 2: 4, 2008 I was struck by the comparatively speaking large amount of poems about death, sickness and old age. Perhaps tanka lends itself better for ‘negative’ themes than haiku. Here is one as an example: Old man— rst he asks to die, then for a ham sandwich. (India), Alexis Rotella (USA) & Angela Leuck (Canada) [eds.], Take Five. Best Contemporary Tanka Vol. 2 2009, Modern English Tanka (MET) Press Baltimore USA 2010. This second volume has 202 pages and contains 387 individual tanka, six tanka haibun and six tanka sequences by in total 139 authors. The anthologists read more than 16,000 tanka from more than 140 sources. The introduction, ‘Tanka in the Electronic Age,’ ascribes this phenomenon to the increase of digital sources, of which Twitter alone provided in 2009 more than 2,000 tanka. Twitter reaches as many readers as the MET Press, but is more ephemeral. Fortunately this is remedied by archival journals such as Dragony Archives, that republish tanka from Twitter. Only one Dutchman and one Fleming made this volume: Alex von Vaupel from Utrecht, who is also technical director of Atlas Poetica, and once again Geert Verbeke from Kortrijk. you want to talk but i have nothing to say around our silence rain falls autumn . . . watching the leaves and everything else fall apart . . . all over again Alexis Rotella From Looking for a Prince, MET Press, 2008 2. M. Kei (USA), Sanford Goldstein (Japan), Patricia Prime (NZ), Kala Ramesh Alex von Vaupel From http://alexvonvaupel.com 2009 wind has free play icicles grow quickly into sharp needles dad hums a cradle song from days long gone A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 68 Geert Verbeke From IJS = ICE. Foto en tankaboek by Geert Verbeke, 2009 The index is ordered according to the rst letter of the names entered, which means that for Western names, by far the greatest number, the rst initial or rst name determines the place in the index instead of the last name, as is usual. This is done in view of the multi-ethnical names of which it is difcult to tell which is the given name and which the surname. So far this doesn’t appear to me to be a handy policy. Obituary : Kawano Yko, 24 July 1946 —12 August 2010 The multi-award winning Kawano Yko stood in the forefront of Japanese post-war tanka poets. An intensely personal writer who always enlivened her poetry with events from her own life, Kawano had a long and distinguished career spanning more than forty years. Between 1972 and 2009, Kawano published fourteen large collections of tanka, three books of literary criticism, and several volumes of essays. Her tanka ranged from the passionate love lyrics of ‘Like a Forest, Like a Wild Beast’ (1972), to the thoughts of a young mother living in the USA; from the m a t u r e r e e c t i o n s o f ‘ M y Ta n k a D i a r y ’ ( 2 0 0 2 ) , t o ‘ Th e M a t e r n a l Line’ (2008) where she confronts the death of her mother, and the resurgence of her own cancer; and nally the more elegeic ‘Reed Boat’ (2009), written in awareness of her short life expectancy, yet as always rejoicing in the beauties of life. During her many years as a highprole professional poet, Kawano also taught tanka composition, edited tanka for newspapers and journals, lectured on NHK television, was keynote speaker at conferences all over Japan, and served as judge for innumerable tanka contests. Kawano was married to scientist and poet Dr. Nagata Kazuhiro, and together with Nagata led the prestigious Tower association of contemporary tanka writers, publishing a monthly journal of the same name. Her rst tanka were written at the age of thirteen; her last at sixty-four, only days before her death. Composed in her hospital bed were 10 tanka for the Tower journal which was printed on 10th August. ‘thrusting open the leaf-like door of my hospital room, here comes my daughter at half-past ten’ Family and tanka poetry were Kawano Yko’s world, to the last. Written by Amelia Fielden, Kawano Yko’s ofcial translator. Note The Time of This World : 100 Tanka from 13 Collections by Kawano Yko, translated by Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi, Modern English Tanka Press, Baltimore, 2009 is currently available from MET. The Maternal Line, by the same translators is to be published early in 2011, also by MET. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 69 ANNOUNCEMENTS A t l a s Po e t i c a w i l l p u b l i s h s h o r t announcements in any language up to 300 words in length on a space available basis. Announcements may be edited for brevity, clarity, grammar, or any other reason. Send announcements in the body of an email to: [email protected]—do not send attachments. I am also running Kukubenkuka, a bar of food of tanka, where tanka poets and lovers can stop and enjoy everything of tanka, including books, chapbooks, pamphlets, leaets, calendars, greeting cards, postcards etc, tanka records, movies, performance, reading and shopping. *** *** The Rough Sheet Tanka Journal established in Ghana by Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah The Rough Sheet Tanka Journal is seeking to feature new and emerging tanka poets and writers from Africa and the rest of the world where the art of tanka is not developed. It encourages tanka innovations in experimental, analytic, journalistic or prosaic forms while maintaining the lyric avours. It considers anything of tanka as long as it is not libelous, obscene, or unprintable. Submission is throughout the year and can be sent at <[email protected]>. Book Note: First Winter Rain: Selected Tanka from 2006–2010 by Denis M. Garrison 6"x9" trade paperback, perfect bound, 160 pages. ISBN 978-1-935398-21-9. Cover price: $13.95 USD. Available by August 1, 2010 at http:// stores.lulu.com/modernenglishtanka and w w w. t h e m e t p r e s s . c o m / b o o k s t o r e / books.html First Winter Rain: Selected Tanka from 2006–2010 is the rst collection of tanka by Denis M. Garrison. It includes 252 poems from the ve-year period, the A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 70 majority standing alone and the rest in sets, strings, and sequences. "What I am struck by is the depth and openness of Garrison’s work, and a sincerity that raises his art high above the playing eld of today’s tanka in English. I hadn’t hoped to nd such a wealth of tanka in one book by a single author this season or next! First Winter Rain holds a breadth of felt experience you owe to yourself." —Larry Kimmel, editor of Winfred Press "First Winter Rain is a welcome new poetry collection from a master of the tanka form in English. Between these covers we nd individual tanka grouped in 8 themed chapters, where Denis Garrison’s poetic virtuosity ranges across passionate love lyrics, strongly resonant tanka of place, and elegiac mood pieces. There are lush poems of peace, despairing poems of war; poems of hopefulness, poems of resignation; Garrison expresses succinctly the yin and yang of life, often within the one tanka . . . Following the individual poems there is a long nal chapter of enthralling tanka presented in sets, strings and sequences, within which each piece stands alone and also resonates with the next." —Amelia Fielden, M.A., translator and poet, Australia "Wide-ranging in subject matter, restless and probing in their inquiry of the human heart, Denis Garrison’s tanka are somewhere near the fulcrum of all his efforts in poetry as editor, poet, and essayist. This generous, good man gifts us all with a lifetime of experience in the highs and lows of a well-traveled soul." —Michael McClintock, President, Tanka Society of America "First Winter Rain: Selected Tanka from 2006–2010 charts [Garrison’s ] personal journey on the tanka pathway with poems that successfully explore the potential of this diminutive genre to capture the essence of all that is of moment to the human heart." —Beverley George, Editor: Eucalypt: a tanka journal "First Winter Rain is proof that tanka is not a hothouse exotic but a thoroughly naturalized American literary form that can thrive in the most demanding environments." —M. Kei, author of Slow Motion: The Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack "Praise for First Winter Rain . . . Almost all of his tanka burst with the energy of the everyday and the experimentation of a curious mind." — George Swede, editor of Frogpond: The Journal of the Haiku Society of America, poet, editor and educator, the author of 31 collections of poetry. *** 5 Books by Australian translator and poet Amelia Fielden published in 2010 1) ‘THE TIME OF THIS WORLD : 100 TANKA FROM 13 COLLECTIONS BY Kawano Yko’, a representative selection by eminent critic Oshima Shiyo of the ‘best’ tanka from almost 40 years’ work by one of Japan’s top-ranking postwar poets; translated by Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi; 44 pp; available from MET Press for $US 9.95 +postage 2) ‘BREAST CLOUDS’ the new, award-winning collection by Japanese poet, Noriko Tanaka; one woman’s journey in tanka through breast cancer, A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 71 and more; translated by Amelia Fielden and Saeko Ogi; bilingual; hard cover; 213 pp; published by Tanka Kenkyusha, Tokyo; 1500 yen plus postage; enquiries to the poet at <[email protected]>. 3) ‘SNOW CRYSTAL * STAR-SHAPED’ anthology by Mari Konno : snow, Hiroshima, the origins of man, nuclear power---an extremely diverse collection of tanka lyrics; trilingual; translated by Amelia Fielden, English, & Viktors Kravcenko, Latvian; 177 pp; published by Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo; 1500 yen plus postage; enquiries to the poet at <[email protected]>. 4) ‘WEAVER BIRDS’, a year of responsive tanka by Amelia Fielden & Saeko Ogi : conversations between 2 poets from different backgrounds, each writing in her native language and translating the other’s work; bilingual; illustrated by Saeko Ogi; 139 pp; p u b l i s h e d by G i n n i n d e r ra P r e s s , Australia; $US 20 pp; orders to Amelia at <ana[email protected]>. 5) ‘LIGHT ON WATER’ an anthology of English tanka composed by Amelia Fielden; introduction by fellow Australian poet Julie Thorndyke, concluding: ‘Let us seize the banquet of poetry here laid out before us and devour every delicious morsel of it’. 132 pp; published by Ginninderra Press, Australia; $US 20 + postage; order from the publisher at <[email protected]> or Amelia at <ana[email protected]>. *** Government Recognition for M. Kei’s Slow Motion I have been crewing aboard historic wooden sailing vessels for some years now. I served my apprenticeship aboard a skipjack, and since I am a poet, I kept a log of several trips aboard that vessel in the form of short poetry. I published it as Slow Motion : The Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack. I just discovered it has been listed as ‘ R e c o m m e n d e d R e a d i n g ’ by t h e Chesapeake Bay Program <http://www.chesapeakebay.net/ suggestedreading.aspx? menuitem=16529>. "The Chesapeake Bay Program is a unique regional partnership that has led and directed the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay since 1983. The Chesapeake Bay Program partners include the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia; the District of C o l u m b i a ; t h e C h e s a p e a k e B ay Commission, a tri-state legislative body; the Environmental Protection Agency, representing the federal government; and participating citizen advisory groups. For more, visit our overview of the Chesapeake Bay Program."—from ‘About Us’, Chesapeake Bay Program It’s gratifying that the governments of the Chesapeake Bay region consider Slow Motion to be a signicant work of literature on the topic of the Chesapeake Bay’s boats! Slow Motion can be purchased through the MET Press. Enjoy! ~K~ M. Kei A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 72 INTERNATIONAL RESOURCES EUROPE United Kingdom Anglo-Japanese Tanka Society York St John University Lord Mayor’s Walk York YO31 7EX UK <http://www.geocities.jp/nichieitanka/ index.html> British Haiku Society Blithe Spirit Journal BHS Membership Sec’y, Stanley Pelter Maple House 5 School Lane Claypole, Lincs NG23 5BQ UK <http://www.haikusoc.ndo.co.uk/> France Kirikino Ilargian Poésie de l’instant: Haïku et tanka, cinquains Pays Basque <http://www.kirikino.biz/> Germany Deutsche Haiku-Gesellschaft Herr Georges Hartmann Saalburgallee 39-41 D-60385 Frankfurt am Main <[email protected]> TankaNetz Ingrid Kunschke Suedkamp 3, 32457 Porta Westfalica, Germany <http://www.tankanetz.de/> Chrysanthemum / Bregengemme Haiku, senryu, tanka Editorial team: Gerd Börner, Klaus-Dieter Wirth, Dietmar Tauchner Contact: Dietmar Tauchner <[email protected]> <http://www.bregengemme.net/> Belgium/Netherlands Vuursteen Mevrouw Leidy de Boer Salieveld 16 7006 VR Doetinchem The Netherlands <[email protected]> Haikoe-centrum Vlaanderen Waaienbergstraat 14 - 3090 Overijse Sporthalplein 201 - 2610 Wilrijk <[email protected]> <http://www.haiku.be> Haiku Kring Nederland Ledenadministratie HKN p.a. Dirk van 't Hul Geldermanmate 19 NL-8014 KN Zwolle The Netherlands <[email protected]> <http://www.haikukring-nederland.nl> Southeastern Europe Aozora Project An international project for haiku poets, associations & magazines from South-East Europe. Some also publish tanka. <http://www.tempslibres.org/aozora/en/ centre.html> Croatia Karolina Rijeka A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 73 <http://www.karolina-rijecka.com/ index.html> <http://karolina-rijecka.com/ waka_poezija.html> Romania Constanta Haiku Society Albatros Journal Ms. Laura Vceanu <[email protected]> Aleea Garoei 3, L79 B, sc. B. ap. 39, cod 900177 Constana, România <http://www.tempslibres.org/aozora/mag/ ehome.html> Haiku the magazine of Romanian – Japanese relationship Mr. Valentin Nicolitov <[email protected]> Bucharest, România Revista literar BOEMA o pute i citi i pe site-ul ADRESA REDAC IEI: Str. Al. I. Cuza, Nr. 45bis, Bloc Cristal, Sc. 2, Et. 3, Ap. 4, Gala i, 800010 <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <http://www.boema.inforapart.ro> Agonia - Ateliere Artistice <http://www.poezie.ro/index.php> <http://http://english.agonia.net/index.php> ASIA Japan Tanka Poets’ Society / Nihon Kajin Club The Tanka Journal 1-12-5 Higashi-gotanda Sinagawa-ku TOKYO 141-0022, JAPAN <http://www.kajin.org/english.html> AFRICA Ghana The Rough Sheet Tanka Journal The journal seeks to feature new and emerging tanka poets and writers from Africa and the rest of the world where the art of tanka is not developed. It encourages tanka innovations in experimental, analytic, journalistic or prosaic forms while maintaining the lyric avours. Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, editor PO Box AD 142 Adabraka, Accra, Ghana <[email protected]> OCEANIA Australia Bottlebrush Tanka Group Contact: Jan Foster <[email protected]> This group formed in early 2009 and is led by Jan Foster who is a member of both Bowerbird Tanka Group and Tanka Huddle. The format is a short workshop, followed by critiquing of members’ work for future chapbooks Tanka Huddle Contact: Julie Thorndyke at <[email protected]> Location: North Rocks, Sydney, Australia Membership: An informal group that meets monthly, after the Eastwood/Hills Fellowship of Australian Writers general meeting, to share and workshop tanka. Format: Members take turns to share poems written to a monthly writing prompt. Supportive critique and workshopping aims to produce poems that demonstrate best practice of modern tanka writing in English. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 74 Bowerbird Tanka Group Contact: Beverley George at <[email protected]> Location: Pearl Beach, NSW Australia Membership: unrestricted except by geography, and the time constraints on the number of people whose work we can discuss. Usually limited to the rst 16 poets to register. History: This group has met at irregular intervals, since the inception of Eucalypt in late 2006. The venue is Beverley’s home within the coastal village of Pearl Beach, New South Wales, Australia. Format: A whole day event. We workshop poems, discuss particular topics; and then write collaboratively in small groups presenting these for comment by the larger gathering. Eucalypt / Eucalypt Newsletter Beverley George, Editor PO Box 37 Pearl Beach NSW 2256 Australia <http://www.eucalypt.info/> <[email protected]> HaikuOz - The Australian Haiku Society With links to tanka in Australia and elsewhere. <http://www.haikuoz.org/> New Zealand New Zealand Poetry Society ‘Tanka Moments’ in a ne line Laurice Gilbert, Editor The New Zealand Poetry Society Inc. PO Box 5283 Lambton Quay Wellington 6145 <[email protected]> <http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz> Kokako <http://kokako1.tripod.com/> Patricia Prime, Co-Editor 42 Flanshaw Rd Te Atatu South Auckland 0610 New Zealand <[email protected]> -orJoanna Preston, Co-Editor 6 Ballantyne Avenue Upper Riccarton Christchurch 8041 New Zealand <[email protected]> Bravado Guest Editors PO Box 13 533 Central Tauranga 3141 New Zealand <http://www.bravado.co.nz> Valley Micropress Tony Chad, Editor 165A Katherine Manseld Drive Whiteman’s Valley Upper Hutt 5371 New Zealand <[email protected]> NORTH AMERICA Gogyohka Society – Five Line Poetry Contact: Elizabeth Phaire <elizabeth@velinepoetry.com> <http://www.velinepoetry.com/> Gogyohka Junction <http://gogyohka.ning.com> Contact: Timoty Geaghan at <[email protected]> México Tanka del Lago Contact: James Tipton at <[email protected]> or A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 75 Margaret Van Every at <[email protected]> Canada Tanka Canada Gusts Journal Kozue Uzawa at <[email protected]> 44--7488 Southwynde Ave., Burnaby, BC, V3N 5C6, Canada <http://www.people.uleth.ca/~uzawa/ TankaCanada.htm> Revue du Tanka francophone 2690, avenue de la Gare Mascouche, QC J7K 0N6 Canada <http://www.revue-tanka-francophone.com/ > <http://editions-du-tanka<francophone.blogspot.com/> Magnapoets An online resource and bi-annual print publication for all forms of poetry, including tanka. See the website for more information about bilingual French-English issue coming up. <http://www.magnapoets.com> United States Tanka Society of America Ribbons Journal Secretary/Treasurer Carole MacRury 1636 Edwards Drive Point Roberts WA 98281-8511 USA <[email protected]> President Michael McClintock 9230 N. Stoneridge Lan Fresno CA 93720 USA <[email protected]> Dave Bacharach, Ribbons Editor 5921 Cayutaville Road Alpine, NY 14805 USA <[email protected]> Established in 2000 by over a dozen founding members, the Tanka Society of America aims to further the writing, reading, study, and appreciation of tanka poetry in English. TSA is a nonprot volunteer organization that relies on the creativity and energy of its members to carry out its activities, which include conducting an a n n u a l o p e n I n t e r n a t i o n a l Ta n k a Competition each spring and publication of the quarterly journal, Ribbons, Tanka Society of America Journal, which features original tanka, articles, essays, translations, book reviews, and competition results. TSA also publishes annual and biannual anthologies featuring tanka by members and, as a public service in cooperation with MET Press, maintains and regularly updates the Tanka Teachers Guide and the standardized Tanka Venues List. <http://tankasocietyofamerica.com/>. Haiku Poets of Northern California Mariposa Journal San Francisco International Competition Publishes tanka and has a tanka category in their contest. <http://www.hpnc.org> ONLINE RESOURCES Tanka Central The mission of Tanka Central is to promote the tanka form of poetry, to educate newcomers to tanka about the form’s history and future, techniques and uses, and to work for wider publication of tanka in both specialty and mainstream poetry venues. In order to accomplish this mission, it is our intent to build this into a megasite that will be the best place to study tanka on the internet, with its own onsite resources, with A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 76 comprehensive links to other relevant sites, with connections to others who write, read, and publish tanka, and that can become the best source for nding places that publish tanka, calls for submissions, etc. <http://www.themetpress.com/tankacentral/ index.html> Tanka Online Contact: <[email protected]>. An educational website that includes articles and essays on how to write and edit tanka. The website also features interviews with guest poets, their poetry and the poetry of founding poets Jeanne Emrich (USA), Michael McClintock (USA), Margaret Chula (USA), Tom Clausen (USA), Mariko Kitakubo (Japan), and Amelia Fielden (Australia). Submissions by invitation only. Website updated twice yearly. <http://www.tankaonline.com> Tanka News & Haiku Headlines Contact: <[email protected]> MET Press operates this blog for the information and convenience of the worldwide tanka and haiku poetry community. Tanka and haiku publishers, editors, poets, etc., are welcome to send in announcements for publication on Tanka News & Haiku Headlines. <http://www.tankanews.com/> Tanka Prose Connection Posting and discussion of tanka prose, that is, of tanka accompanied by prose of various genres: expository essay, journal, reportage, narrative episode, anecdote— factual or ctional. <http://groups.google.com/group/the-tankaprose-connection> Tanka Round Table A private email discussion group regarding tanka written in English. Membership is restricted and by invitation so that our discussions may be open and frank and yet private. The purpose of this group is the advancement of tanka in English. Our method is serious and civil conversation on all matters related to tanka in English. This is not a workshop group. Please contact the moderator if you would like to join. <http://groups.google.com/group/tankaround-table> Twitter Micro-blogging service with a large micropoetry community. It hosts various curated journals and retweet services. Relevant hashtags include: #tanka, #kyoka, #gyogohka, #jtanka, #waka, #pentastich, #micropoetry. <http://Twitter.com> AHA Poetry Tanka Email List Workshop list for tanka. <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Tanka/> Kyoka Mad Poems Email List Kyoka, variously translated into English as ‘mad poem,’ ‘comic waka’ and ‘humorous tanka’ are to tanka/waka what senryu is to haiku: the lighter side of poetry, with few rules. Frequently satirical, bawdy, and just plain silly, kyoka is for poets who want to have fun. <http://groups.google.com/group/kyoka> A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 77 BIOGRAPHIES A l e x v o n Va u p e l l i v e s i n U t r e c h t , Netherlands, with his many dictionaries and a balcony veg garden. His tanka appear in Atlas Poetica, Concise Delight, and Prune Juice. Two of his tanka won a Tanka Splendor Award (2009). Visit his website <http://alexvonvaupel.com>. Foundation Poezia, Ia i, 2008). She was published among the “25 Romanian Tanka Poets” Special Feature in Atlas Poetica, March 2010. Her work can be found on the literary site <http:// www.agonia.ro> Amelia Fielden has translated or cotranslated 15 collections of Japanese tanka and published six books of her own poetry. In 2007, she and Kozue Uzawa were awarded the Donald Keene Prize for Ferris Wheel, 101 Modern and Contemporary Japanese Tanka (2006). She divides her years between Australia, Seattle, and Japan. Damascus Kafumbe has translated tanka by Margaret Van Every into Luganda, the melliuous language of the Baganda people of Uganda. He is a well-known composer, vocalist, and recording artist of his own music on traditional sub-Saharan East African instruments, which he crafts by hand. Kafumbe is from Kampala, Uganda, and currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida, where he is nishing his doctorate in ethnomusicology at Florida State University. Bep Grootendorst lives in Oostkapelle, The Netherlands. She wrote many letters and reports in her professional capacity and later on also, as a committee member of a historical association, articles on history and genealogy. She joined the committee of a small writers association in Zeeland in 1989. She won some prizes in the Netherlands and in Belgium. More than 80 anthologies contain work of her hand. She has published some volumes privately. Bob Lucky lives in Hangzhou, China, where he teaches history. His work has appeared in various journals. He is moving to Ethiopia. Chen-ou Liu was born in Taiwan and emigrated to Canada in 2002. He lives in Ajax, a suburb of Toronto. Chen-ou Liu is a contributing writer for Rust+Moth and Haijinx Quarterly. His poetry has been published and anthologized worldwide. His tanka have been honored with awards. Cristina Rusu was born on May 17, 1972 in Iai, România. She lives in Iai, România. She started with haiku poems and tanrengain Dor de Dor magazine. Her haiku poems can be found in the Romanian anthology Greieri i crizanteme (Publishing House Orion, Bucharest, 2007) and in some literary magazines: LiterNet;Nota Bene, Literaturen vestnik, Soa, Bulgaria and in Poezia magazine (Publishing house of Cultural David Callner was born in 1956. His youth was spent in France, England, Italy, and America. Since 1978 he has lived in Japan. He has written four novels and teaches English at Nagano University. He is a grandson of Kisaburo Konoshima and the translator of Konoshima’s Hudson - a collection of Tanka. Geert Verbeke born in Kortrijk, where he still lives, Flanders (Europe) on 31 May 1948. Father of four and husband of one! Children: Hans (°1969), Saskia (°1972), Merlijn (°1984) & Jonas (°1986). His soulmate is Jenny Ovaere, exteacher now companion for Joker travelling. Author of poetry, novels, meditations & fairy tales. Writes haiku since 1968. Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, born in 1968 in Ho, Ghana, and educated at University of Cape Coast, he is a vegetarian, artist, poet, journalist and teacher. He lives in Winneba, a centre of learning in Ghana. James Tipton (Chapala, Jalisco, México) has published more than 1000 poems, short stories, and articles in various magazines and anthologies, including Contemporary Literature in Translation, International Poetry Journal, Apicultura Moderna, Mundus Artium, American Literary Review, The Nation, Esquire, El Ojo del Lago, Lake Chapala Review, Living at Lake A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 78 Chapala, and México Connect. His work has been translated into various languages—Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Danish, and Norwegian. His collection of poetry Letters from a Stranger (with a Foreword by Isabel Allende) won the 1999 Colorado Book Award. A collection of his tanka, All the Horses of Heaven, was published by MET Press in 2009. Janick Belleau, poet, cultural writer and lecturer. Feature articles and presentations deal mainly with the contribution of women insofar as the advancement of tanka and haiku. Recent publication: D’âmes et d’ailes / of souls and wings. Joe Klemka was born in Montreal to Lithuanian parents. He went to French schools in Quebec and later attended university in Halifax and Ottawa. He taught Metereology, Ice Studies, Maritime History at the Canadian Coast Guard College in Nova Scotia. During his teaching career he made several trips to the High Arctic. He and his wife now live in Sydney, Cape Breton Island. Kisaburo Konoshima was born in 1893 in Gifu, Japan. He left his village for an education in Tokyo when he was fteen years old, and went on to become a professor of political economics at the now defunct Shokumin Gakkouin Kyoto. In 1924 he abandoned academia for the life of a farmer, and emigrated to California with his wife and children. In 1941 Konoshima was forced off his farm and he and his family were interned in the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp in Wyoming. Following the war Konoshima moved to New York City, where he devoted himself to his children’s education and his poetry. In 1950 he joined the Japanese poetry society Cho-on, which published his entire opus of over fteen hundred tanka in the Cho-on quarterly, from 1950 to his death in 1984. In 1970 Konoshima published a collection of his tanka, 歌集ハドソン in commemoration of his seventy-seventh birthday. That collection was translated into English and published as Hudson - a collection of Tanka, in 2004. Linda Moore, Rob Mohr’s wife who shared in his work in Latin America, is an art historian and Spanish teacher. She has translated poems by Antonio Otzoy (Guatemala) from Spanish into English and has edited several books for friends in Ajijic. She is currently working on a historical novel set in the Yucatan Peninsula. Luminita Suse lives in Ottawa, Canada. Her poetry appeared in Bywords Quarterly Journal, Ditch Poetry Magazine, The New Stalgica Hymnal, The Broken City Magazine, Sage of Consciousness e-zine, Moonbathing: A Journal of Women’s Tanka, and Ascent Aspirations Magazine. She got third place and honourable mention in the Flat Signed Poetry Competition 2007, Chocolate River Poetry Association, one honourable mention in the Emerging From Shadows Contest, 2010, and two honourable mentions in The Open Heart Poetry Competition 2009, The Ontario Poetry Society. One of her poems was shortlisted for 2010 Descant/Winston Collins Prize for Best Canadian Poem. M. Kei is the editor of Atlas Poetica and editor-in-chief of Take Five : Best Contemporary Tanka. He is the author of Slow Motion : Log of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack. A tall ship sailor in real life, he recently published a trilogy of nautical novels featuring a gay protagonist, Pirates of the Narrow Seas. He is the editor of Catzilla! Tanka, Kyoka, and Gogyohka About Cats. Magdalena Dale was born in, and lives in, Bucharest, Romania. She is a member of the Romanian Haiku Society and of the World Haiku Association from Tokyo led by the poet Ban’ya Natsuishi. She has published in several reviews: Haiku, Albatros, Dor de Dor, Ribbons, Gusts, Kokako, Magnapoets, Modern English Tanka, Atlas Poetica, Ambrosia, moonset, Taj Mahal Review and Japanese reviews: Ginyu, Hekian and World Haiku Association. Her poetry appeared in several anthologies such as: Fire Pearls: (Short Masterpieces of the Human Heart), Among the Lilies, One Hundred Droplets, While the Light H o l d s a n d s e ve ra l b i l i n g u a l R o m a n i a n anthologies. Her tanka and other poems have appeared in more literary sites online. She has published a bilingual tanka book Perle de rou/ Dewpearls, together the poet Vasile Moldovan a bilingual renga book Mireasm de tei / Fragrance of lime and a bilingual haiku book Ecourile tcerii / The echoes of silence. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 79 Margaret Van Every resides in San Antonio Tlayacapan, a village on Lake Chapala near Guadalajara, Jalisco, México. She is the author of a book of tanka entitled A Pillow Stuffed with Diamonds (Librophilia Press, 2010). <http:// librophilia.com> Maria Steyn lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a BA Honours degree in Philosophy, but followed a career in language teaching that took her to Soweto in the mideighties, and thereafter to various non-racial private schools. Her tanka and haiku have been published in numerous international journals and anthologies. Marius Surleac was born on August 1982, in Vaslui, Romania. Now he lives in Bucharest. He debuted in 2003 in an anthology after participating to a poetry contest. He participated in literary circles and published poetry and prose in literary magazines such as: Convorbiri Literare, Oglinda Literara, Hyperion, Egophobia, Feedback, Novo Slovo (Serbia). He participated with poems at the poetry festival Muza PoetikePegasi 2010 (Albania). He also publishes on literary websites like: <http:// w w w. r e d r o o m . c o m > , <http:// www.neopoet.com>. Martha Alcántar (Chapala, Jalisco, México) was born and grew up in a village on the Pacic Coast of México. In her mid-teens she moved to Puerto Vallarta where she continued her academic studies. She now lives in Chapala, Jalisco, México, where she enjoys reading contemporary literature, translating poetry into Spanish, giving massages, and going to lots of movies. She is married to James Tipton and they have one daughter, Gabriela, and two dogs, Chispa and Cookie, and their cat Manchas. Maurice De Clerck was born in Ghent (Flanders, Belgium), the 13 oct. 1934. He studied Pedagogy and Psychology at the University of Ghent. During 6 years he was attached as a Assistant to the Neuro-Psychiatric Clinic of the same University. Later on he worked as a Clinical Psychologist in a Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, where he practiced psychodiagnostic and psychotherapy. Since Nov. 1995 he is retired. During his studies he was already interested in Japanese culture and history, especially in Buddhism and Zen. This interest led to growing bonsai, and last but not least, to write Haiku, Tanka, Senryu and Kyoka. He published Tanka in Aan het woord, a biennial issue by Haiku Kring Nederland/Haikoe-Centrum Vlaanderen, and 1 Tanka is published in ATPO 1. Mel Goldberg, after graduating from the University in California, taught in California, Illinois, Arizona and in England. In 1990 he published a book of poetry and photography, The Cyclic Path. In 2001 he published Sedona Poems for Sedona, Arizona, centennial. His novel, Choices, and his book of short stories, A Cold Killing, are available on Kindle. His stories and poems have been published in magazines and on line in the United States, México, The United Kingdom, and Australia. For six years he lived and traveled in a motor home from Alaska to México. He now lives in Ajijic, Jalisco, México. Mike Montreuil lives in the old city of Gloucester with his family and their cats. His English and French haiku, tanka and haibun have been published on-line or in print throughout the world. Neil Schmitz is a professor of English at SUNY/Buffalo, the author of Of Huck and Alice and White Robe’s Dilemma, and many essays on Mark Twain, Gertrude Stein, and William Faulkner. He is presently teaching a course on expat literature, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, that crew. Patricia Prime is coeditor of the New Zealand magazine Kokako and reviews editor of Stylus. She has published poetry in collaboration with fellow NZ poet, Catherine Mair. Ongoing work includes an essay on African poetry and an essay on haiku by Indian poets. Paul Mercken, Belgian citizen, was born at Leuven, Belgium, in the summer of 1934, but grew up in Hasselt (province of Limburg). He did postdoctoral research in Cambridge, Oxford en Florence and taught in the U.S.A. and the Netherlands. He specialised in the history of medieval philosophy at Utrecht University and became a medievalist. He has two daughters, born in 1969 and 1970. He lives near Utrecht A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 80 and is secretary of the Dutch Haiku Association. He calls himself a humanist and regards poetry and the art of translating as powerful means to build bridges between people. Peter Bernhardt was born and raised in Stuttgart, Germany. His legal career in the U. S. encompassed writing, editing and courtroom practice, from his law school days as editor-inchief of the Tulsa Law Journal through years as a litigator in private practice and for the U.S. Department of Justice. He drew upon this unique combination of life experiences to craft the plot and characters of his rst novel, The Stasi File: Opera and Espionage - A Deadly Combination, a nalist for 2009 Book of the Year Award and a bestseller chart selection on the British Arts Council sponsored site <http:// www.youwriteon.com>. He is currently immersed in the sequel, Teya’s Kiss: Opera and Artifacts - A Deadly Combination. Visit him at his website <http://sedonawriter.tripod.com>. Rebecca Kowalsky moved from Chicago to Israel in 1985 with her husband Yossi. A mother of six, she lives in Efrat near Jerusalem. A photographer since high school, she continues darkroom work in her own private studio. To stay on the cutting edge of her eld, she has ventured into the fascinating world of digital imagery. She attempts to capture and document the beauty of special moments, believing photography captures the heart, passion, and soul in the richness of life around us. Rob Mohr, a painter as well as writer, began his professional life as a teacher of painting, drawing, aesthetics, and art history at universities in North and South Carolina. Later, after a term in the Peace Corps, Rob, guided by the teaching of Paulo Freire, worked with marginalized indigenous communities throughout South and Central America using non-formal education to help people understand their individual and communal potential. Out of this experience Rob and his wife Linda settled in Ajijic, México, to write and paint full time. Inspired by the teaching of his friend Jim Tipton, Rob has come to understand and love the degrees of analogy possible through tanka. Sanford Goldstein has been publishing tanka for more than forty years. He is co-translator of several collections of Japanese tanka poets. erban Codrin born 10 of May 1945 in Bucharest, Romania. He published several books of classical poetry and also tanka and haiku books: Dincolo de tacere/Aux connd du silence/Beyond Quietness – editura Haiku, Bucharest 1994; Între patru anotimpuri/Entre quatre saison/Between for seasons – editura Haiku, Bucharest 1994; O srbtoare a felinarelor stinse / A fest of the Extinguished Street Lamps, ed. Tempus Dacoromania Comterra, Bucharest 2005, Missa requiem – 1997, Scoici fr perle zen poems, 1997, Marea Tcere an anthology of the author. Terry Ann Carter has published haiku and tanka in journals around the world. She has won some international awards for her haiku. With Marco Fraticelli she co-edited Carpe Diem: Anthologie Canadienne Du Haiku/Canadian Anthology of Haiku (Les Editions David/Borealis Press) 2008. Vasile Moldovan was born in a Transilvanian village on 20 June 1949. He was cofounder (1991) chairman of the Romanian Society of Haiku (2009). Vasile Moldovan published ve haiku books – Via Dolorosa (1998), The moon’s unseen face (2001), Noah’s Ark (2003), Ikebana (2005) and On a summer day (2010). Also he published together with Magdalena Dale the renku book Fragrance of Lime. Yvette Mollen, Director, since 2003, of the Innu language department at the Tshakapesh Institute in Sept-Iles, formerly known as the Montagnais Cultural and Educational Institute (ICEM), where she works in particular to safeguard the Innu language. Zoa Barisas was born in Montreal, Canada. When she was ve her family moved to a farm in Saint-Paul de Joliette. The language spoken at home was Lithuanian. Her mother told stories of old kings and knights and epic battles. The language at the convent was French. She married a man from Yorkshire and lived in England and now lives in Ajijic on Lake Chapala in México. The heart’s home remains Lithuania. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 81 INDEX Alexandra Flora Munteanu, 24 Amelia Fielden, 69 Bep Grootendorst, 36 Bob Lucky, 46 Chen-ou Liu,29 Cristina Rusu, 21 Damascus Kafumbe, 39 David Callner, 58 Geert Verbeke,30 Jacob Kobina Ayiah Mensah, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48 James Tipton, 19 Janick Belleau, 15 Joe Klemka, 9 Kisaburo Konoshima, 58 Linda Mohr, 18 Luminita Suse, 26 M. Kei, 7, 28, 45 Magdalena Dale, 21, 22, 28 Margaret Van Every, 16, 39 Maria Steyn, 44 Marius Surleac, 25 Martha Alcántar, 19 Maurice De Clerck, 34 Mel Goldberg, 17, 36, 38 Mike Montreuil, 11 Neil Schmitz, 52 Patricia Prime, 49, 54 Paul Mercken, 30, 33, 36, 65 Peter Bernhardt, 38 Rebecca Kowalsky, 36 Rob Mohr, 18 erban Codrin, 24 Sanford Goldstein, 47 Terry Ann Carter, 11 Vasile Moldovan, 23 Yvette Mollen, 15 Zoa Barisas, 9, 12 Our ‘buttery’ is actually an Atlas moth (Attacus atlas), the largest buttery/moth in the world. It comes from the tropical regions of Asia. Image from the 1921 Les insectes agricoles d’époque. A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 82 Educational Use Notice Keibooks of Perryville, Maryland, USA, publisher of the journal, Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka, is dedicated to tanka education in schools and colleges, at every level. It is our intention and our policy to facilitate the use of Atlas Poetica and related materials to the maximum extent feasible by educators at every level of school and university studies. Educators, without individually seeking permission from the publisher, may use Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka’s online digital editions and print editions, as primary or ancillary teaching resources. Copyright law “Fair Use” guidelines and doctrine should be interpreted very liberally with respect to Atlas Poetica precisely on the basis of our explicitly stated intention herein. This statement may be cited as an effective permission to use Atlas Poetica as a text or resource for studies. Proper attribution of any excerpt to Atlas Poetica is required. This statement applies equally to digital resources and print copies of the journal. Individual copyrights of poets, authors, artists, etc., published in Atlas Poetica are their own property and are not meant to be compromised in any way by the journal’s liberal policy on “Fair Use.” Any educator seeking clarication of our policy for a particular use may email the Editor of Atlas Poetica, at [email protected]. We welcome innovative uses of our resources for tanka education. Catzilla! Tanka, Kyoka, and Gogyohka about Cats. Edited by M. Kei. ISBN: 978-0-557-53612-2 Language: English Pages 136 Perfect-bound Paperback 7.5” wide × 7.5” tall Price: $14.00 (US) Catzilla! Tanka, Kyoka, and Gogyoka About Cats is an anthology of short ve line poems about the feline companions in our lives—funny, friendly, or tragic, these short poems are portraits of cats who share their lives with us. "Cats are highly evolved, intriguing, mysterious, ruled-by-no-one beings who are also mischievous bringers of unwanted gifts. Cats off to M. Kei for bringing us a collection of tanka that tears at our heartstrings one moment and has us giggling the next." —Alexis Rotella, author of Black Jack Judy and the Crisco Kids A t l a s P o e t i c a • I s s u e 7 • P a g e 83
