A new tanka just published in Skylark, Summer 2017, Volume 5, Issue 1
whistling wings
of Tundra swans
over the marshes
. . . what is this power
you hold over me
(c) 2017 Mary Kendall
Tundra Swans by Gerald Plowman
This is the second responsive tanka sequence I’ve written and published with poet David Terelinck. A big thank you to editor Claire Everett for publishing this sequence in her beautiful journal, Skylark.
My thanks to David Terelinck for writing with me and guiding me all the way. You are the best mentor any poet could have.
Skylark Summer 2017, Volume 5, Issue 1
A responsive tanka sequence with Mary Kendall (USA) and David Terelinck (AUS)
Between the Lines
the conversation
turned so quickly
that morning in Paris . . .
your disapproval palpable
as you walked away
despite phrasebooks,
maps and interpreters
how often
we still lose our way
to understanding . . .
you sketch
a stranger’s likeness
with such ease –
how I hoped you could learn
to read between the lines
days spent
rehearsing a response –
why do those
who direct my life
now want to write the script
your practised words
sound right, but feel so wrong . . .
sifting through
shattered pots and ashes
left in an empty kiln
dementia steals
my name from her lips –
visiting hours,
relatives complete
the latest jigsaw
piecing together
from rumour and gossip
her final days –
I snake through minutiae
to make some sense
they contest
the unsigned will
. . . promises
we make to each other
but don’t intend to keep
© 2016 Mary Kendall & David Terelinck
Note: to my friends unfamiliar with responsive writing, David’s contributions are all in bold face type while mine are in ‘normal’ type.
It is a true joy to have a piece of tanka art accepted in Skylark. Sandi Pray is the new tanka art editor, and as all fans of contemporary haiga and tanka art know, Sandi is one of the most gifted creators of haiga and tanka art herself. Here is my contribution:
Skylark Summer 2017, Volume 5, Issue 1
This tanka art selection is dedicated to Joy McCall, a poet who inspires us all.
~
Gusts, Contemporary Tanka, one of my favorite print journals, arrived here in London this week. Edited by Kozue Uzawa, the journal is a publication of Tanka Canada. The tanka are placed on the page under a category heading such as “life,” “scent,” “moon,” or “relationships.” Many of my favorite tanka poets appear in this journal, and of course it’s always great to discover new poets or poets whose work I don’t know. The overall quality and standard is very high, and this makes for excellent reading and rereading. I’m pleased to say that three of my tanka appear in Gusts, no. 25, Contemporary Tanka, Spring/Summer 2017. I hope you enjoy reading them.
watching clouds
begin to drift
from your soft sable brushes –
you make the sky bluer
than blue, not grey
the shivery silk
of your words
slips around me –
the first line of us
now written
all that time waiting
to hear from you
I ascend the stairway
of a deserted station,
pale Freesias in hand
These three tanka were written by Mary Kendall, (c) 2017,
Gusts, no. 25, Contemporary Tanka, Spring/Summer 2017
Ribbons, Winter 2017: Volume 13, Number 1
Journal of the Tanka Society of America
Edited by David Rice
I am always thrilled to have a haiku chosen for The Heron’s Nest. This is the first time a haiku of mine has been selected as an editors’ choice.
Queen Anne’s lace –
a childhood spent
in second-hand clothes
Haiku by Mary Kendall, published in The Heron’s Nest, Volume XIX, Number 1: March 2017
Here is a link so you can read the whole issue of The Heron’s Nest: http://www.theheronsnest.com/index.html
A Poet in Time 