酷我-北美枫

[ericcoliu]

Reading and Writing: Life on the Page:

(I was notified by Dave Bacharach, Tanka Society of America Editor, that two of my six submitted tanka will be published in the Spring issue of Ribbons. I was really, really happy because Ribbons is one of the most influential English-speaking tanka journals and because its publication of my tanka will make me more confident to declare myself as a writer, who writes in his adopted language)


Life Sketches


I

for years now
I have known you --
chance glimpses
through gaps in the fence
in the backyard


II

meditating
while shovelling my driveway --
snow is just snow
yet sometimes not snow
but in the end snow


The following is the rest of my submitted tanka, which are still seeking "the shelter of the alphabet":


III

I listen
to my muted heart --
every cell
pulses, cries aloud
yet you hear nothing


IV

distressed
in the wake of a dream --
I hear
time passing
in the sound of snow


V

buried earth
a silver carpet --
maples and I
gaze at the barrenness
we see in each other


VI

in Canada
moist green touches my yard --
dewdrops
cling to blades of grass
just as I do
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Reading and Writing: Life on the Page:

(I was notified by Dave Bacharach, Tanka Society of America Editor, that two of my six submitted tanka will be published in the Spring issue of Ribbons. I was really, really happy because Ribbons is one of the most influential English-speaking tanka journals and because its publication of my tanka will make me more confident to declare myself as a writer, who writes in his adopted language)


Life Sketches


I

for years now
I have known you --
chance glimpses
through gaps in the fence
in the backyard


II

meditating
while shovelling my driveway --
snow is just snow
yet sometimes not snow
but in the end snow


The following is the rest of my submitted tanka, which are still seeking "the shelter of the alphabet":


III

I listen
to my muted heart --
every cell
pulses, cries aloud
yet you hear nothing


IV

distressed
in the wake of a dream --
I hear
time passing
in the sound of snow


V

buried earth
a silver carpet --
maples and I
gaze at the barrenness
we see in each other


VI

in Canada
moist green touches my yard --
dewdrops
cling to blades of grass
just as I do
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

Below is an e-mail from Dave Bacharach, Tanka Society of America Editor:


Thank you for your submissions to Ribbons. I'd like to use IV and VI for years now and the wonderful meditating.


(Note: IV and VI are I and II in this post)
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Below is an e-mail from Dave Bacharach, Tanka Society of America Editor:


Thank you for your submissions to Ribbons. I'd like to use IV and VI for years now and the wonderful meditating.


(Note: IV and VI are I and II in this post)
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[ericcoliu]

Writing Tanka in English


Tanka are usually untitled and tanka sequence titled. Views vary on the way tanka should be written in English. Aesthetically speaking, I personally like to use about 20 English syllables (or use 10 ~ 15 words, or up to 20 words at maximum) because this shortness is very close to Japanese’s tanka. Structurally speaking, I follow Michael McClintock’s conception of tanka in the “taika” style, which combines a three-line haiku in typical objective language with two additional lines that further develop the imagery and usually introduce a lyrical, subjective element. In most cases, the three-line unit could stand alone as a haiku, while the two-line unit is dependent on the other for its meaning and context. This clearly discernible style of composition is frequently found in the classical waka and modern tanka of Japan, as well as in contemporary English-language tanka.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Writing Tanka in English


Tanka are usually untitled and tanka sequence titled. Views vary on the way tanka should be written in English. Aesthetically speaking, I personally like to use about 20 English syllables (or use 10 ~ 15 words, or up to 20 words at maximum) because this shortness is very close to Japanese’s tanka. Structurally speaking, I follow Michael McClintock’s conception of tanka in the “taika” style, which combines a three-line haiku in typical objective language with two additional lines that further develop the imagery and usually introduce a lyrical, subjective element. In most cases, the three-line unit could stand alone as a haiku, while the two-line unit is dependent on the other for its meaning and context. This clearly discernible style of composition is frequently found in the classical waka and modern tanka of Japan, as well as in contemporary English-language tanka.
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[christine]

[[christine]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[ericcoliu]

Below are replies from my poet friends:

Chen-ou, the queen of forms. Done right the msot beautiful ever writen.

The things I look for most are (1) L1-3 and L3-5 can stand alone with the former haiku like, the later most emotional/personal.

-- Gary Blankenship

Chen-ou I think this is some of your very best writing. I could only find beauty and wisdom in each of these.

-- Emusing
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[[ericcoliu]]

Below are replies from my poet friends:

Chen-ou, the queen of forms. Done right the msot beautiful ever writen.

The things I look for most are (1) L1-3 and L3-5 can stand alone with the former haiku like, the later most emotional/personal.

-- Gary Blankenship

Chen-ou I think this is some of your very best writing. I could only find beauty and wisdom in each of these.

-- Emusing
_________________
Time is nothing but a disquiet of the soul

[fanfan]

[[FAFAFA]]

[温暖的水獸]

[[温暖的水獸]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[浴恩福]

[[浴恩福]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[hahaview]

[[hahaview]]

[agincourt]

[[agincourt]]

[ericcoliu]

[[ericcoliu]]

[christine]

Your picket fence image that springs to mind is Robert Frost’s perspective on this issue:

Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.
-- Robert Frost

I would like to know
What I was fencing in
And what I was fencing out.
--Robert Frost

[[christine]]

Your picket fence image that springs to mind is Robert Frost’s perspective on this issue:

Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.
-- Robert Frost

I would like to know
What I was fencing in
And what I was fencing out.
--Robert Frost