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| T a n k a f a l l |
| Back in March, as part of the introduction to the 3LIGHTS exhibition Full Bloom, I wrote of the 'awakenings' of Spring haiku. It seems like no time has passed at all since we were celebrating the birth of this year, and now, here we are, at the close of it. I was born in Autumn and, to this day, am still very much at home in the dark blue chill of October, the bite of November and the merriment of December. I'm delighted to introduce our first exhibition dedicated entirely to tanka, a form that is as dear to me as the colours of these final months of the year. We close this year with a delicious bowl of Autumnal tanka from writers both new and familiar to 3LIGHTS. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those who have made the first year of the 3LIGHTS Gallery a happy and successful one. Here's to the Autumn, to the fall, and to tanka... Liam Wilkinson, September 2007 |
| autumn sunrise
the color of ochre melons split upon a jagged horizon M. KEI |
| icy morning -
over-ripe grapes in the smell of leaves I remember the heat of our argument FRANCIS MASAT |
| october morning
at the library checkout the woman before me has emptied the shelves on dying MEGAN ARKENBERG |
| pinks and purples
billow on the line this autumn morning I think of my daughter struggling for breath MATTHEW PAUL |
| ill
but still working two jobs the poor robin in autumn M. KEI |
| taking boxes to the garage ~
dead bodies of Summer spiders hang stiff from the rafters LIAM WILKINSON |
| Falling leaves
in the golden light between us this red dragonfly carrying our dreams MAGDALENA DALE |
| she smoothes the wrinkles
on my forehead as if they'll go away - the last leaves on the oak twist and turn in the breeze BOB LUCKY |
| your whisper
over the tide saying, 'it's over'... a hermit crab recedes into its shell N.C. WHITEHEAD |
| Edith Piaf,
how sad her life on film --- " I miss you most of all,my darling when autumn leaves start to fall " AMELIA FIELDEN |
| his cologne
new textbook on a subject I don't yet know anything about ROSE HUNTER |
| while talking to you
I've straightened two paper clips - it's a puzzle how easily things can come undone BOB LUCKY |
| death of a friend
I watch the persimmons from my kitchen window and wonder what they know of frost MEGAN ARKENBERG |
| old plaza chimes -
a call from a cicada a note of sourness in the grapes FRANCIS MASAT |
| patches of blue
in the autumn sky flashes of blue from my dog's collar in the drifting brown leaves AMELIA FIELDEN |
| Chilly wind
shivers the foliage one by one the leaves begin to fall like my summer dreams MAGDALENA DALE |
| falling asleep
I promise myself sweet dreams - outside the window the moon snagged in high branches BOB LUCKY |
| my father
by the light of the rising moon tills the soil in the autumn of my days I savour that memory ELLEN WESTON |
| Gracious light
filtering through the branches the last apples beginning to ripen under the harvest moon VASILE MOLDOVAN |
| how quickly
the child’s nightmare skitters away, frightened off by a sip of cold water GARY LaBEL |
| A crisp, biting wind
Rolls down off the Pennines, And with it, Winter. Or is it just a taster Of the cold that is to come? ALAN McKEAN |
| harvest moon -
the throaty cough of a crow we decide to talk again FRANCIS MASAT |
| remembering
from high school French class that song "the violins of autumn afflict my heart ...." AMELIA FIELDEN |
| I sowed
a small packet of mixed seeds and waited - in the spring I became a woman ELLEN WESTON |
| remembering
from high school French class that song "the violins of autumn afflict my heart ...." AMELIA FIELDEN |
| an autumn ending
with woodwinds— as if the instruments remember the trees from which they were born M. KEI |
| TANKAFALL Curated by Liam Wilkinson for 3LIGHTS Gallery With thanks to Allan Wilkinson. Copyright remains with the respective authors of each poem. Please contact 3LIGHTS to request permission before reprinting. |
| Image copyright © Allan Wilkinson |
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