Contemprary Tanka Poet Mariko Kitakubo. Media coverage.
#FemkuMag published a Tan-Ku set, "Coming of Age", a collaboration with Ms. Deborah P Kolodji.
Coming of Age
angel hair pasta
her baby tooth
beneath a pillow (D)
first kiss
under the olive tree,
garden party
on this mellow
summer solstice (M)
Deborah P Kolodji and Mariko Kitakubo
Monday, November 21, 2022
On September 10, an online poetry journal "Scarlet Dragonfly Journal" published "Beach House." It is a set of English tanka & haiku I created together with Ms. Deborah P Kolodji, my best friend haiku poet.
My sincere thanks to the editor, Ms. Kathleen Trocmet.
https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/.../beach-house/
Beach House
the iridescent
splash still there
after your dive...
eternal summer
eternal ocean (M)
the sea pounding
even in my dreams
dolphins (D)
— Mariko Kitakubo, Japan / Deborah P Kolodji, USA
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Two sequences that Ms. Deborah P Kolodji and I composed have been published in the online poetry magazine "Dashboard Horus: A Bird's Eye View of the Universe".
My sincere thanks to the editor, Marie C Lecrivain.
Click here to view our sequences on "Dashboard Horus: A Bird's Eye View of the Universe" website.
Asakusa
by Deborah P Kolodji and Mariko Kitakubo
tourists pose
by the thunder gate
jinrika-sha (D)
cherry petals
were dancing
at Senso-ji
together in the photo
us with incense smoke (M)
red-faced in the wind
of a spring day
paper lantern (D)
a couple
of Nioh watches us
since we visited
sweet rain
of Asakusa (M)
my last package
of Matcha sweet treats
empty suit cases (D)
am I
mishearing?
happy liveliness
from that April
pale blue sky (M)
© 2022 Deborah P Kolodji & Mariko Kitakubo
Meiji Jingu
by Deborah P Kolodji & Mariko Kitakubo
sun on the water
an egret meditates
in the shrine garden (D)
making
shining circles
around us
like waterfowl,
our thankful prayer (M)
I write my heart
too soon for irises
in the inner garden (D)
the leaf
looks like a sword ...
SYOUBU iris
please don't bring us
another war (M)
crossing the bridge
I am lost
in the forest (D)
how many Torii
did I go thorough?
hopefully
the next gate
will be welcoming (M)
© 2022 Deborah P Kolodji & Mariko Kitakubo
Friday, July 22, 2022
On July 12, an online poetry journal "Scarlet Dragonfly Journal" published "Forest Bathing." It is a set of English tanka & haiku I created together with Ms. Debora P. Kolodji, my best friend haiku poet.
My sincere thanks to the editor, Ms. Kathleen Trocmet.
https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/.../forest-bathing/
Forest Bathing
uphill path
I slow down to breathe
the pine scent (D)
she perches
at the edge of
my straw hat
a butterfly’s siesta
in emerald breeze (M)
— Deborah P Kolodji / Mariko Kitakubo
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
"failed haiku" a journal of English Senryu posted two pieces of linked verse I created together with Ms. Debora P. Kolodji, my best friend haiku poet.
My sincere thanks to the editor, Mr. Bryan Rickert.
failed haiku - a journal of English Senryu website.
failed haiku Volume 7, Issue79
Hanging Overhead
in the heat
of all this anger
an umbrella (D)
round shade
makes me calm
even if
nuclear light can
penetrate this thin film (M)
Deborah P Kolodji/Mariko Kitakubo
Ebb and Flow
dreaming to return
to ancestral seas
the pendulum
keeps moving
possible impossible... (M)
Foucault thoughts
swing in all directions
the earth turns (D)
Mariko Kitakubo and Deborah P Kolodji
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
"red lights", an American tanka journal, the editor and publisher Ms. Marilyn Hazelton, posted my tanka sequence in its Vol.18, No.2 June 2022.
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Marilyn. Thank you very much.
『Angel Talk』
Mariko Kitakubo
Grandma,
will you disappear, he asks,
someday?
yes, but let me stay with you
little bit more, I answer
he is 5
his pure and simple
question ...
as if a petal is dancing
and dancing
I think about
the silhouette
of death -
yes, we should go
without knowing when
I will
miss you
after my death
looking on this world
from afar
grandson
don't hurry please,
be in the shining mist
there are still wings
on your back
Monday, July 4, 2022
On June 24, an online poetry journal "Scarlet Dragonfly Journal" published "Sachet." It is an English linked verse with Ms. Sigrid Saradunn, Ms. Kath Abela Wilson, Ms. Taura Scott, Ms. Jackie Chou, and myself.
My sincere thanks to the editor, Ms. Kathleen Trocmet.
https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/.../sachet/
Sachet
sunrise wedding
by the sea
wisteria bouquets
for bride and attendants
mother weeps at the sight
— Sigrid Saradunn, USA
does wisteria
weep as it droops
lavender tears
I catch in my hand
for my faraway friend
— Kath Abela Wilson, USA
draping
over the archway
wisteria blossoms
caress my face
as I walk by
— Taura Scott, USA
again and again
the same walk just to feel
wisteria
it’s silky touch its sachet
stays in my heart
— Kath Abela Wilson, USA
by the cloister
my mother was young
violet strands
how many springs ago
wisteria
— Mariko Kitakubo, Japan
strolling through
a wisteria trellis
alone . . .
my mind somewhere
beyond my own reach
— Jackie Chou, USA
Monday, June 27, 2022
On June 23, a poetry video journal "Frameless Sky" published "Stormy."
It is an English tanka & haiku sequence I created together with Ms. Deborah P Kolodji, my best friend haiku poet.
My sincere thanks to the editor, Ms. Chrissi Villa.
Stormy
spring snow
or petals of sakura
falling falling
like ashes
in Ukraine (M)
trains going west
a child’s stuffed bear
stares out the window (D)
whose uniform. . .
a sunflower sprout
comes out
of the camouflage
pocket (M)
the caws of crows
footage of survivors
underground (D)
searching for
better days...
repeated invasions
in our layered
past (M)
petal storm
is there a chance
for peace? (D)
— by Deborah P Kolodji, USA / Mariko Kitakubo, Japan
Friday, June 24, 2022
On June 23, an online poetry journal "Scarlet Dragonfly Journal" published "Under the Sun." It is an English tanka & haiku sequence I created together with Ms. Debora P. Kolodji, my best friend haiku poet.
My sincere thanks to the editor, Ms. Kathleen Trocmet.
https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/.../under-the-sun/
Under the Sun
early heat wave
the shade tree not yet
leafed out (D)
road mirage,
the wait for thunder–
ordering
a scoop of pistachio
ice cream (M)
earth baked
by relentless sun
my wide-brimmed hat (D)
high tide
tomorrow always
comes
the shiny edge
of the field of vision (M)
aloe vera
the cool rub down after
of a heated argument (D)
the thorns
were young green
never-ending
vacation
in Mallorca (M)
— by Deborah P Kolodji, USA / Mariko Kitakubo, Japan
Thursday, June 23, 2022
On May 28, an online poetry journal "Scarlet Dragonfly Journal" published "Lego Box." It is an English tanka & haiku sequence I created together with Ms. Debora P. Kolodji, my best friend haiku poet.
My sincere thanks to the editor, Ms. Kathleen Trocmet.
Lego Box
tiny pieces
become
our world. . .
picking up only
innocent elements (M)
kaleidoscopes
of brightly colored pieces
Starry Night in 3-D (D)
passion
of the vortex
still there
in the deep sky
Vincent Van Gogh (M)
swirling blocks
in circular patterns
childhood artist (D)
release
from a spiral
labyrinth
a flying ladybird
summer morning (M)
follow
the yellow brick road
Lego box (D)
— Mariko Kitakubo, Japan / Deborah P Kolodji, USA
<Message from Ms. Deborah P Kolodji>
Collaborative poetry has been especially fun and inspiring during this pandemic/post-pandemic age we have been living through, isolated from everyone. Since Covid hit in 2020, I've been writing tanka/haiku sequences with my good friend, Mariko Kitakubo, from Tokyo.
She writes tanka and I write haiku and we inspire each other. Due to the time difference, it is often very late at night either here in LA or in Tokyo when our creativity blossoms. She might write a tanka before she goes to bed, then I see it when I wake up. When I'm about to go to bed, we're at our most productive since it's in the middle of the afternoon (tomorrow) in Tokyo at that time.
Last summer, I went to the Lego art exhibit, "The Art of the Brick," at the California Science Center with Yvette and sent Mariko some photos. She was inspired to write a tanka, which inspired me to write a haiku and the rest is history. "Lego Box" was published in the Scarlet Dragonfly Journal yesterday:
https://scarletdragonflyjournal.wordpress.com/.../lego-box/
Sunday, May 29, 2022
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