GUSTS, NO. 24, Contemporary Tanka, Fall/Winter 2017 (Tanka Canada) This is the third of three tanka published in this issue of Gusts.
Note: I have added the picture of dark water here on my blog. The original tanka does not appear with the picture in Gusts. The original water picture is called, “Dark Water”and is by (c) LeandrasStock.
Note: This beautiful owl drawing appears on Pinterest, but I was unable to trace it to a specific artist. I am grateful to the unknown artist for putting this lovely piece ‘out there’ for others to view and use.
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
2017 Haiku Invitational Winners
USA
Honourable Mentions
spent blossoms—
the remission, too,
was unexpected
.
Mary Kendall
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
To view all the winners and honorable mentions, please click on this link to go to the official website:
http://www.vcbf.ca/haiku-invitational/winning-haiku/2017-winning-haiku
Note: The beautiful picture of cherry blossoms (above) is taken from the website, Flower Meaning (http://www.flowermeaning.com). Also, from this website:
What is the Sakura Flower?
While the Japanese called this flower the sakura, you likely know it as the cherry blossom instead. The blossom of the Japanese Cherry, also known as the Prunus serrulata, is technically the sakura flower. However, other varieties of blooming cherries are also grown in Japan and referred to with the same name. The cherry blossom became so popular in the Heian era of Japan’s history that the word for flower became synonymous with sakura. People have been picnicking under the blooming trees since 700 A.D., a tradition that continues today.
The beautiful and very short lived cherry blossoms symbolize the brevity of life. The kanji (above) is for Sakura or cherry blossom. I think the kanji is just as beautiful by itself as is a single cherry blossom.
Blithe Spirit is the Journal of the British Haiku Society. Two of my tanka and one haiku were published in Volume 27, Number 23 (2017). I am most grateful to be part of this issue.
old shoes –
the challenge
of moving on
plum blossoms—
watching you
struggle for so long
I remember how brief
a season is
stopping to study
fritillaries, tulips
and jonquils –
the sudden way
you take my hand
(c) 2017, Mary Kendall
Blithe Spirit, Volume 27, Number 23 (2017)
Luna moth
this brief life
soon eclipsed
~Mary Kendall~
Published in Presence Issue 58, July 2017
Luna Moth, photographer unknown
faded numbers
tattooed on your arm
I slip back in silence
.
~Mary Kendall~
Published in Presence 58 July 2017
.
.
Back story on this tanka. In 1972 I visited friends in Israel. As a tourist, I was eager to see the historical sites, one of which was Masada, site of a group suicide where a Jewish community was surrounded by Roman soldiers. The Jews chose suicide rather than be taken as captives. As I stood high up on the hilly site with other visitors, it was very, very quiet. It was after all a sacred place. An older man stood next to me, and I happened to glance at him also looking out at where the soldiers would have been waiting, hoping to starve out the isolated Jewish community. I noticed on his arm, faded numbers–numbers, of course, indicating he’d been captive in a Concentration Camp. The poignancy of him being there has stayed with me for over forty years. Never again, please Lord, shall we do such things to our fellow men.
Both pictures are from travel sites to and in Israel. Masada is located in the Judean desert, very close to the Dead Sea. Visiting these sites is like stepping back two thousand years. I am so grateful for having had this opportunity to visit.
A Poet in Time 