Laurels: Tanka Society of America Online Journal, Number 4, August 2025

My thanks to guest editor Jackie Chou for including the following tanka for the theme: "time"!

tonight

the soliloquy of snow

does not console . . .

your voice forever lost

to those who loved you

Each in Our Own Way, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2024

Edited by Michele L. Harvey

a waterfall,

translucent against

this mountain . . .

your face as you slip

beyond the veil

 

Laurels: Tanka Society of America Online Journal, Number 3, February 2025

My thanks to guest editor Margaret Tau for including the following tanka for the theme: "choice"!

an orca

backflips near our boat . . .

when was

the last time we tried

to impress each other

Eye to Eye, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2023

Edited by Randy Brooks

winter light . . .

nuggets of purple mica

gleam on my desk

and suddenly, I can

think only of lilacs

Tanka Society of America - Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contst, 2024

My thanks to the judges, Vandana Parashar and Reid Hepworth, for selecting the following tanka for this year's contest:

an arbutus

sheds its outer bark . . .

my skin

is the only thing

holding me together

Honourable Mention

2024 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest

Judges' Comments:

This tanka poignantly captures the fragility and resilience of human existence. The shedding of the arbutus tree's bark mirrors the poet's own vulnerability and a sense of raw survival, hence suggesting a deep connection with nature.

Tanka Society of America Twitter Bird Special Feature, April 2024

 Curated by Susan Burch

Day 17 - April 17, 2024

linden trees

splashed with sunlight

here and there

a few leaves turning

into yellow warblers

Laurels: Tanka Society of America Online Journal, Number 1, February 2024

My thanks to guest editor Richard L. Matta for including the following tanka for the theme: "a makeover: finding beauty in the broken"!

lying on this bed

of sun-warmed moss

and lichen,

I imagine myself

a fruiting body

 

One Moment at a Time, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2022

Edited by Jim Chessing

Honoured to have the section "Caressed by Ferns", named for the following tanka:

newly turned,

this earth where soon

you will lie

caressed by the soft

fingertips of ferns

Tanka Society of America Twitter Work Special Feature, April 2023

 Curated by Susan Burch

Day 2 - April 2, 2023

pens and brushes,

the tools of my trade . . .

I wield them

like swords in this fight

against infirmity

Tanka Society of America Twitter Sci-fi Special Feature, April 2022

Curated by Susan Burch

Day 19 - April 19, 2022

(note: this tanka art first appeared in Scryptic 1.4, March 2018)

 

Self-Portrait, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2021

a plague

of smokestacks belching

obscenities . . .

on this frosted morning,

even they are beautiful

 

Tanka Society of America Twitter Pandemic Special, April 2021

Curated by Susan Burch

Day 1 - April 1, 2021

rain doves build

a nest on our balcony

we, too

are learning the art

of sheltering in place

Tanka 2020: Poems from Today's World

Red Moon Press (editor Alexis Rotella)

 

Dance into the World, Tanka Society of America Twentieth Anniversary Anthology, 2020

Edited by Michael Dylan Welch

sprites flash

across purpling skies

for an instant

I forget the grim state

of this locked-down life

 

Tanka Society of America 20th Anniversary Twitter Tanka Haiga Feature, April 2020

Thank you to curator, Susan Burch!


April 3, 2020

Honourable Mention, 2018 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest

Tanka Society of America 7-Day Twitter Tanka Project, May 2020

My thanks to curator, Susan Burch!


Day 1 - May 10, 2020

I carry
an ocean within
my pocket . . .
this blue lace agate
etched with ancient tides

Honourable Mention, 2018 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest

Day 2 - May 11, 2020

a smudge
of blackbirds swirling
into evening . . .
how fluid the shape
of this sorrow

2nd Place, 2018 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest

Day 3 - May 12, 2020

1st Place, 2016 Mandyߴs Pages Tanka Contest

Day 4 - May 13, 2020

the growth rings

of otoliths and trees . . .

when did she

become smaller

than her daughters

2nd Place, 2017 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest

Day 5 - May 14, 2020

a star tortoise

carries the universe

on its back . . .

are we slowly moving

away from each other

2nd Place, 2018 San Francisco International Tanka Contest

Day 6 - May 15, 2020

1st Place, 2016 Fleeting Words Tanka Contest

Day 7 - May 16, 2020

the ocean

was in a rage last night

but today,

these peace offerings

of blue mussels and kelp

1st Place, 2018 Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest

A Thousand Voices, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2019

Edited by Alexis Rotella:


a mirage
shimmers above
golden grain . . .
I reach out to touch
my sister's halo

Of Love and War and the Life In Between, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2018

overnight,
filaments of hair ice
grow longer . . .
how tenuous these threads
that bind us to each other

Tanka Society of America - 19th Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest, 2018

the ocean
was in a rage last night
but today,
these peace offerings
of blue mussels and kelp

1st Place

Judges' Comments:

The word, rage, has a long, storied history in literature ... it is a universal emotion and, for sure, people have long experienced the rage of the ocean. How excellent we thought was its use in line 2, rather than using a word such as storm. We admired the use of a simple comma at the end of line 3 to give the reader a short pause to allow a moment to ponder, "What's next?" Ah, there is a resolution to the last night. Today? A peace offering to which we felt an "aah" moment. How welcome is the bounty. There is an infinity of treasures found in the ocean. We found the blue mussels and kelp a delightful choice made by this poet. In our judges' report, we touched upon reciting tanka to take in its sound. You might not choose to read out loud all nine of the awarded tanka, but this one, in particular, lends itself to deeper appreciation with its pivot at the end of line 3. You might experience tranquility with lines 4 and 5. We did.


on this night
of our awareness,
the aurora
brushes an ensō
across lake and sky

Honourable Mention

Judges' Comments:

This tanka offered a wonderful visual image of sky artistry in the shape of the Zen form of the brush-stroked circle known as ensō. The circle, of course, has been a time-immemorial symbol of Life with no beginning and no end. Reading this tanka did, in fact, provide both judges a moment of awareness. The poet asks us to imagine a transition from night to the first light of dawn when anything is possible. There is magic in the transcendence gifted by this tanka.


wheat fields
tousled by fingers
of wind
I tuck a strand of hair
behind your ear

Honourable Mention

Judges' Comments:

This tanka brought out the romance of life expressed in gentle moments, and oh how gently we are brought into this scene. In this poem, love is in wind and wheat, love is expressed by tucking hair with hands. While we sat in the presence of this poem, it allowed each of us to feel this sacred moment of love, and to reflect on our symbols of affection and tenderness. For us, we ultimately fell into a moment of appreciation and quietude.


Note: There were 476 entries to the contest. I am grateful to Jessica Malone Latham and Neal Whitman for their generous commentaries.

The Right Touch of Sun, Tanka Society of America Members' Anthology 2017

this hagstone
I hold to my eye . . .
suddenly,
another world looks
right through me


animal trails
curve through brush . . .
my wild feet
still yearn to follow
someone home


bluegrass blares
from loud speakers . . .
we get high
on night music
under a banjo moon


Note:

I was honoured to provide the following photographs for this anthology:

Tanka Society of America - 18th Sanford Goldstein International Tanka Contest, 2017

Honorable Mention


light spills
through a fallstreak hole
onto water . . .
if nothing else,
this will be enough


Judges' Comments:

Finally, we chose "light spills" for its classical beauty and sense of the ethereal in terms of style and theme. A fallstreak hole is a large gap in certain cumulus clouds that occurs when supercooled water droplets meet up with ice crystals; what a sight that relatively rare phenomenon must be for the narrator. She literally sees the light pouring onto a body of water below (water being symbolic in its own right). She also figuratively "sees the light," the hole representing "a break in the clouds" for her (possibly in the form of a much-needed answer or relief from a pressing matter). Perhaps, even more spectacularly, the narrator experiences a breakthrough in terms of a spiritual quest—a glimpse of heaven that, if need be, "will be enough."

—Janet Lynn Davis and James Chessing

(note: there were 650 entries to the contest)