r e v i e w s ______________________________________________   the very first book on Cherita deserves an honest review and we have two other books on Tanka from Japan . ..

 

the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses ______________________________________________ by Larry Kimmel     Kimmel is a writer and a poet I have time for.  He brings every echo from his past to enrich our present. We hear his night train, experience the blue smoke he blows our way with eyes grown accustomed to cigarette glow, with the steel mills etching every passing horizon. This volume of Cherita could have been more fiercely edited by whittling down its number of poems by a dozen or more, but this would have prevented the readers from discovering this author's wide range of subject matter, his fine use of language, and more importantly, the way he allows the form to grow through him, delivering to us his personal truths. I may have created the Cherita but Larry Kimmel has endowed it with endless possibilities. I hope you will buy this volume for all its necessary flaws.  Immerse yourself in the poets fragmented world, a world in which he shows us again and again how we can cope with the permanent ache of being human.   a i      l i       the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses by Larry Kimmel; 2001.   100pp., flat-spine, 8.5 x 5.5 ". Winfred Press,  364 Wilson Hill Road, Colrain, MA 01340,  USA.  $12.00 domestic (USA) ppd.,  $14.00 ppd. overseas surface

for the cherita guidelines and fine examples of the form, please click here.

One Hundred Tanka By Young Students Today 2001 ______________________________________________ translated by Naoshi Koriyama and Joseph J. Dilenschneider               This morning I dig a hole         in the Earth         with a shovel         for a goldfish         which will never swim again         Masaru Beppu (M. 17)                                                                                                  I wonder                                                                                    if I can see a world                                                                                    I've never seen before                                                                                    from the top                                                                                    of the Ferris wheel.                                                                                      Tomoko Egawa (F.18)                  the jar                       Today I listen            to the song of lost love again            all by myself,            and I find myself            in the words of the song.                Takefumi Uenmatsu (M.16)                                                                                                                 100 Tanka have been selected from 69,486 entries in this 14th annual compilation. I found a number of the Tanka refreshingly innocent and the authors' approach lightly brushed by zen.   All correspondence to: Public Relations Office, Toyo University, 5-138-20 Hakusan, Bunyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8606, Japan.   a i    l i

 

Burs of Chestnuts ______________________________________________ One Hundred Tanka by Koichi Kansaku Edited and Translated by Naoshi Koriyama               I'm told         that the fish leaping up         are mullets,         as we walk by the seashore         in the evening glow.                                                                                                       My morning in Montana begins                                                                                    with a ritual                                                                                    of putting a one dollar bill                                                                                    under the pillow                                                                                    for a tip.                 I hear the sound         of the newspaper dropped into the mailbox,         and then the sound         of the motorcycle         going farther away.                                                                                                                 We are told that this book has been privately printed to commemorate the author's retirement.  This is a gentle book of Tanka where we go on a journey with the author and enjoy his quiet time of wonderment.   All enquries to:  Koichi Kansaku, 3-16-16, Yawata, Ichikawa-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan or to: Naoshi Koriyama, 2-15-9 Yaei, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan.   a i    l i

n o t i c e    b o a r d

original artwork copyright  ai  li  2002

 

n o t i c e    b o a r d ______________________________________________   one independent magazine for short poetry and  a journal of unedited tanka you may wish to look into . . .

 

HUMMINGBIRD ______________________________________________ Magazine of the Short Poem Vol. XII, No.3     March 2002 This issue features the poems of Padraig Rooney 'for his poetry is large-hearted enough to express the joy or the sadness.'   I enjoyed:                     even                        for the atheists                           the summer stars                                             by vincent tripi     Please contact: Phyllis Walsh, Editor Hummingbird, P.O. Box 96, Richland Center, WI 53581, USA     a i     l i

 

THE TANKA JOURNAL ______________________________________________ 2001   No. 19                                                               how many times                                                           in half a century                                                           have I thought                                                           today is different,                                                           this is the first morning                                                                        Amelia Fielden     The membership fee is US$40 and the journal is published twice a year.     Please contact: Nihon Kajin Club, Shuei Bldg. 2F, 1-12-5, Higashi-gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0022, JAPAN. e-mail: kajin-club@k.email.ne.jp   a i     l i

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