With Hiroko Falkenstein (my tanka teacher)
1.
Is it music or
math—I am counting on my
fingers like a child
My thought runs away it runs
free from the too strict counting.
2.
Tanka is tango
lulls me into a rhythm
tap tap side side step
paper and pen sashaying
to the music of my thought.
3.
It’ll be natural
to breathe in 5 7 5
7 7 stop
Morse-like, smoke signals, heart beats
silent then sound then sound then…
4.
It prevents you to
think too rashly, force you to
ralentissimo
think! Absorb! Soak in, drink deep!
become a tanka itself.
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