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.
~
These three senryu and the single kyoka were published in Prune Juice, A Journal of Senryu, Kyoka, Haibun and Haiga, Issue 21, March 2017. It is always such a joy to have a poem selected to appear in this important journal of senryu. While senryu are frequently amusing and clever, they can also be dark or serious.
1.
slave burial ground
. . . only whispers
and unmarked graves
2.
evening news –
the tragedies of life
our common thread
3.
winter thaw –
finding a way back
from heated words
4.
morning doves
cooing their way
through the garden…
I, too, never saw
the neighbor’s cat
Do you like word play as much as I do? I’m a hopeless ‘punner,” and this senryu/haiga allowed me to have a little fun. I hope you like it, too.
This haiga was published in Prune Juice, A Journal of Senryu, Kyoka, Haibun and Haiga, Issue 21, March 2017.
I was very lucky to have two senryu published in Failed Haiku, A Journal of English Senryu, Issue 16, April 2017
1.
traffic jam reversing my indecision
2.
sleeplessness…
balancing dreams
and more dreams
My thanks to editor, Mike Rehling. Failed Haiku can be downloaded as a pdf file. This issue contains so many wonderful poets and senryu. Please go and explore it:
Click to access FailedHaikuIssue16.pdf
A Poet in Time 