Modern Literature

Tag: tanka

Tanka by Gabriel Rosenstock

Gabriel Rosenstock’s Tanka Series – 5

1.

will You forever remain hidden

appearing and disappearing

as some noonday moon

mistaken for a cloud

concocted by an errant roving mind

Francis Picabia – Date: 1912 – Style: Cubism

2.

enough of this flesh and blood

enough of hair bones eyes

enough of mouth and nose

ears? ah enough, I am straw

beloved, a wisp in the wind

The Straw Manikin – Francisco Goya – Date: 1791 – 1792

3.

useless the lives they lead

repairmen sent out to mend

last night’s broken hearts

now their own hearts

begin to break: what is to be done

Repairmen – Tahir Salahov – 1960 – Style: Severe Style

4.

why do You come

as a nymph to tempt me

I am already Yours

since the dawn of time

who else have I been but You

Menaka the nymph tempting the yogi – Raja Ravi Varma – 1900 –
Style: Academicism

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About the Author

Photo: Jim Berkeley.

Gabriel Rosenstock is a bilingual poet (in Irish & English), haikuist, tankaist, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, translator, writer for children and champion of ‘forlorn causes’ – the phrase is Hugh MacDiarmid’s. He is a Lineage Holder of Celtic Buddhism and a member of Aosdána (the Irish academy of arts and letters). Among his awards is the Tamgha-i-Khidmat medal (Pakistan) for services to literature. Gabriel’s most recent volume of poetry is Glengower: Poems for No One in Irish and English (The Onslaught Press).

April 23, 2020
Tanka by Gabriel Rosenstock

Gabriel Rosenstock’s Tanka Series – 4

1.

the flower seller is left

with her flowers

I am left with my poems

will they wither and decay

beloved, what happens to poems that die

Flower Seller – Stefan Luchian

2.

stay among flowers

they are your true companions

in fragrance and innocence

we must wait for many aeons yet

beloved, before the world is ready

Garden with a woman – Georg Pauli

3.

emigrants waiting for their ship

what will they bring with them

to a new world

beloved, what will be in me

of You in worlds to come

The Emigrants (Last Ship) – Nicolae Vermont

4.

what layers are there

that make up You and me

peeling an onion

until nothing is left

beloved, how many layers can there be

Onions – Ion Andreescu

To read more Tanka by the same author click here

About the Author

Photo: Jim Berkeley.

Gabriel Rosenstock is a bilingual poet (in Irish & English), haikuist, tankaist, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, translator, writer for children and champion of ‘forlorn causes’ – the phrase is Hugh MacDiarmid’s. He is a Lineage Holder of Celtic Buddhism and a member of Aosdána (the Irish academy of arts and letters). Among his awards is the Tamgha-i-Khidmat medal (Pakistan) for services to literature. Gabriel’s most recent volume of poetry is Glengower: Poems for No One in Irish and English (The Onslaught Press).

March 25, 2020
Tanka by Gabriel Rosenstock

Gabriel Rosenstock’s Tanka Series – 3

1.

even when not conscious

beloved, of my actions

i sought you all along

made a path to Your door

for where else was there to go

Man on a cart in wood – Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch

2.

I send them out on the wind
butterfly inspectors
flowers that are perfect
are not for you, beloved
a tiny flaw awakens your compassion

Butterflies and Flowers- Odilon Redon – circa 1910-1914

3.

why am I waiting for You

in an unfamiliar place

and in another time

is there no now, no today

what hour is waiting to be born

Duane Street, New York – Louis Comfort Tiffany – 1877

4.

even as it was playing

i heard the music dying

even as girls danced

maggots wriggled, beloved

death is the only door to You

Chahut – Georges Seurat – 1889 – 1890 – France

To read more Tanka by the same author click here

About the Author

Photo: Jim Berkeley.

Gabriel Rosenstock is a bilingual poet (in Irish & English), haikuist, tankaist, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, translator, writer for children and champion of ‘forlorn causes’ – the phrase is Hugh MacDiarmid’s. He is a Lineage Holder of Celtic Buddhism and a member of Aosdána (the Irish academy of arts and letters). Among his awards is the Tamgha-i-Khidmat medal (Pakistan) for services to literature. Gabriel’s most recent volume of poetry is Glengower: Poems for No One in Irish and English (The Onslaught Press).

February 23, 2020
Tanka by Gabriel Rosenstock

Gabriel Rosenstock’s Tanka Series – 2

1.

the hummingbird is away again
in a flash, beloved
where did it go
teach me never to stray
far from Your radiance

Hummingbird and Passionflowers – ca. 1875–85 – Martin Johnson Heade

2.

to see You, beloved
through other eyes
eyes of a different kind
eyes of extinct species
beings we have yet to know

Cranes – 1780s – Nagasawa Rosetsu

3.

is not each hour
a preparation
for the final hour
Your name on my lips
what else could it be

A Successful Hunt -1906 – Henry François Farny

4.

ah! store You away
as the squirrel stores its horde
or enjoy You in the now
empty hazelnuts of long ago
only their emptiness remains

Squirrel Eating Chestnuts – 1887–92 – Kawabata Gyokushō

To read more Tanka by the same author click here

About the Author

Photo: Jim Berkeley.

Gabriel Rosenstock is a bilingual poet (in Irish & English), haikuist, tankaist, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, translator, writer for children and champion of ‘forlorn causes’ – the phrase is Hugh MacDiarmid’s. He is a Lineage Holder of Celtic Buddhism and a member of Aosdána (the Irish academy of arts and letters). Among his awards is the Tamgha-i-Khidmat medal (Pakistan) for services to literature. Gabriel’s most recent volume of poetry is Glengower: Poems for No One in Irish and English (The Onslaught Press).

January 15, 2020
Tanka by Gabriel Rosenstock

Gabriel Rosenstock’s Tanka Series – 1

1.

they drink to forget You
to forget Your voice
Your loveliness
consumed by the dark
as if they never knew You

The Drinkers
by 1861 – By Honoré Daumier

2.

leaves fly from trees
as though they were birds migrating
not knowing where to go
take me, beloved, now
winds of autumn rattle me

Autumn Landscape with a Flock of Turkeys
1872–73
Jean-François Millet

3.

‘the dragon that has scaled the heights
laments his coming fall’
it has been said
nowhere for me to fall now
but in Your arms, beloved

Dragon Awakens – By
Theodor Severin Kittelsen

4.

I have built You a folly
come and view it
it is nothing really
birds will come and delight in it
in its sheer nothingness

Landscape with a Fantastic Castle –
1865 –
George Sand

About the Author

Photo: Jim Berkeley.

Gabriel Rosenstock is a bilingual poet (in Irish & English), haikuist, tankaist, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, translator, writer for children and champion of ‘forlorn causes’ – the phrase is Hugh MacDiarmid’s. He is a Lineage Holder of Celtic Buddhism and a member of Aosdána (the Irish academy of arts and letters). Among his awards is the Tamgha-i-Khidmat medal (Pakistan) for services to literature. Gabriel’s most recent volume of poetry is Glengower: Poems for No One in Irish and English (The Onslaught Press).

January 1, 2020