SPASMS OF LIGHT

Part III ~ Tanka



Contents


 

she draws
a tiger with a long tail
on the window
he grins to the passengers
in the morning train

[Geert Verbeke]

over the fire flies
moon flirting with
breeze on the clouds ~
ancient memories wind
light into my being

[Narayanan Raghunathan]

voices of geese
fading to the south
many autumns
sheathed in gold
stolen by fickle time

[Kirsty Karkow]

mother's cough
brings memories
of father now
very far away
still allways here

[Narayanan Raghunathan]

the old ways
back to the fields
reliably
when winter ends
the water remembers

[Michael McClintock]

on the lotus
three butterflies
chat old secrets ~
a dragonfly
overhears

[Narayanan Raghunathan]

her letter smells
the lotus she wore each time
meeting in the dark:
I touch her fingers again
with all the hopes and passion

[Ram Krishna Singh]

night rain
whispers on the trees ~
sheltered safe
the fireflies chime
angels' dreams

[Shyam Santhanam]

Christmas again
the earth has become
Sodom again ~
precious Christ
come back again

[Anand Raghunathan]

sunlight flows
on lotus petals to
merge with the skies ~
we hold hands sit
in lotus silences

[Narayanan Raghunathan]

the red rosehips
among the pale leaves
and the dry branches.
like mother's embroidery
on the towel for tea.

(Translated from Romanian)
[Maria Tirenescu]

maitreya sleeps
in a tree's shadow ~
tears of light shed
through the night,
echo in the worlds

[Shyam Santhanam]

door's open
snowstorm
get into the house.
"came to warm up?"
asks the child.

(Translated from Romanian)
[Maria Tirenescu]

the gleaming
embers inflame
conflagrate the universe
into a wide green
coolness.

[Narayanan Raghunathan]

a war movie, enacted~
terrible bombs
gunfire blast galore
deaf-dumb pals
talk aloud.

Note ~

I remember UnniKrishnan known to all as Pottan (Malayalam slang for "one who can't hear or talk" which also means an "idiot") from my coffeehouse days. I learnt a little sign language from him. In fact I learnt his name through his sign language. Most people forgot that he had a real name. He was a healthy bearded man who could do all odd jobs and he was an assistant to my friend Balan a mechanical wizard (an ex IAF pilot). Balan tells me that UnniKrishnan was an instinctive genius with the eye! I also remember a group of deaf-dumb friends who used to meet regularly in coffeehouse and chat exuberantly in sign language. This one is based on my experience of their presence.
This poem is dedicated to these unknown friends and to UnniKrishnan who passed away a few years ago.
(Circa 2002)

[Narayanan Raghunathan]

my grandmother gives me
largest red apple.
but when I awake,
no grandmother, no apple...
only memories...

(Translated from Romanian)
[Maria Tirenescu]

father's countenance
in the lighter's faint glimmer
unrecognisable...
the puffing of his old pipe
unchanged for a whole lifetime.

(Translated from Romanian)
[Vasile Moldovan]

only drops of longing
like the whisper of the leaves
lost in the night;
at the meeting with the moon
I am still waiting for you

(Translated from Romanian)
[Magdalena Dale]

a white butterfly
in my olive palm;
if I close it
I shall dispel the gold
from its delicate wings

(Translated from Romanian)
[Magdalena Dale]

following you home
to a backwoods cabin
I glimpse a firefly
in the shadows of your heart
that no one will ever catch

[Darrell Lindsey]

the purring cat
in the grandmother's chaise-longue...
sunset...
above the mountains from Sacel
falling the last snow-flake.

(Translated from Romanian)
[Maria Tirenescu]

for aeons
waves have danced
the pebbles to perfection,
but it's the sand in my fingers
that leaves me spellbound

[Kala Ramesh]

there is this one place
where the sky is always clear
the end of the road.
you must truly believe this
in order to find it, too

[Jules Cohn Botea]

I see in the insectarium
pinned butterflies;
they're as beautiful when dead.
it hurts me when my son
catches and kills them

[Jules Cohn Botea]

on the house wall
wailing shadows
of naked branches;
an unpaired sparrow
under the chilly sun

[Magdalena Dale]

the winter air
while between you and me
is only silence ...
at the end of the breakwater
the waves strikes the rock

[Magdalena Dale]

still meditating
at the repeated pattern
of the Milky Way –
the old gardener picks up
the spiral of a snail shell

[Eduard Tara]

long silhouettes
of travelling shadows
knock at the window;
the chilly autumn rain
drenches the leaves anew

[Magdalena Dale]

in twilight
a flock of geese flying
my scattered dreams ...
this shout lost in the air
always crying for you

[Magdalena Dale]

without colors
unutterable longings,
the roving day dream
on the undulating sea
flies
with the wind in pursuit

[Magdalena Dale]

a warm teardrop falls
upon the eulogy sheet
as emotions flood
to the surface of my soul,
the citadel tumbles down

[Keith A. Simmonds]

almost dawn,
drifting back to the day
when I pulled my red wagon
door to door
trying to sell daddy's greens

[Darrell Lindsey]

it is still raining...
behold the rainbow gazing
through the broken clouds;
the moistened kimono sleeve
dried out all of a sudden

[Vasile Moldovan]

through the empty house
the dust of memories;
our day dreams
thread sand scatter
in the four corners of the earth

[Magdalena Dale]

old song in my heart
like smooth waters which run deep
a suspiration...
lost in thoughts listening
to violin anew

[Magdalena Dale]

a forgotten poet
confesses with much
truthfulness -
in that time cocks sang
of an old custom

(Translated from Romanian)
[Serban Cordin]

The Milky Way
in the water bowl
of the carpenter -
I sit at the wooden table
with the spoon in the hand

[Serban Cordin]

a sultry summer
with grey cloudy character
churning out dullness,
gloom covers the horizon
noisy rain cascading down

[Keith A. Simmonds]

all my yesterdays
caught in today's agony
of tomorrow's dreams
down the labyrinth of Time
my destiny to fulfil

[Keith A. Simmonds]

serene shafts of joy
shimmer softly in sunlight
sailing to the West
as cool crystal mountain tops
wave to summer's smiling clouds

[Keith A. Simmonds]

one tiny star shines
as darkness covers the land~
room in the manger
for the Prince of salvation
to redeem a world of pain

[Keith A. Simmonds]





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