6 Tanka
o
Mike Doughty sings of
"The gray ghost that I call home"
Wonder what he means
I feel but don't understand
T.S. Elliot was right
p
Written memories
That's what these diaries hold
Like the brain, the heart
One day I will search these books
Find my mind and heart's secrets
p
Three things are telling
Kisso, Kaaso, Koso;
Money, anger, wine
Embarrassed by his anger
He hopes it's two out of three
p
In the dentist's chair
Up one flight, right off the park
No-one thinks to look
As my novacaine sets in
I absorb them passing by
p
"Tina Fey glasses"
That's what Amy Poehler said
To Tina/Sarah
Inside jokes inside of jokes
With a sadness deep inside
p
Are you really real?
They ask, pretend not to care
Their eyes betray them
We know what our students need
G-d knows what we need to give
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 2:28 PM
4 Comments:
I don't get it. Isn't Tanka a toy truck?
Tonka trucks drive
up and down the sofa cushions
Tanka poems go
rolling on hills in my mind
swooping like birds of prey
(The above is not a formal Tanka - does not have the correct number of syllables -- but is in the spirit of Tanka, perhaps.)
Tonka moves sand piles
randomly a child at play
Tanka moves the heart
evoking single moments
precisely lyrically true
He spoke of Tanka
When my colleague heard "haiku"
And I must confess
I couldn't help but think of
Those toy trucks from childhood
Thanks for the comments everyone. I just sighed as I was about to write that this was fun. I guess it's because I'm in the middle of writing up some things - on deadline - feeling pressured.
I just wrote this one above, but when I first heard about Tanka recently, the first one I wrote was about the trucks. If I can find where I wrote it, perhaps I'll post it. But don't hold your breath and please don't refrain from eating while you await that poem.
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