Contemprary Tanka Poet Mariko Kitakubo. Media coverage.
"A Cappella" which is a sequence of English Haiku and English Tanka that Ms. Deborah P. Kolodji and I composed together was posted in a New Zealand poetry magazine, "Kokako" in its volume 34.
The cover of Kokako issue 34 is an image created by Mr. Ron Moss, who is an artist and English Haiku poet.
A Cappella
mallards
can you see
sunshine?
longing . . .
under the thick clouds (M)
my dreams fly
a mountain pokes through
the mist (D)
seeing me
in your world
please
find yourself
in matching sunglasses (M)
backyard pond
I hear your words
in the mirror(D)
finding
one wing of
a pair. . .
we each sing
a different verse (M)
a cappella
at midnight
moonglow (D)
Deborah P Kolodji & Mariko Kitakubo
Monday, April 19, 2021
"red lights", an English poetry journal, posted my new Tanka sequence.
This sequence was created in this autumn in Inokashira Park where few people were due to coronavirus pandemic.
I am very honored with the proposal from Ms. Marilyn Hazelton, the editor of Red Lights, saying she wants post the sequence as a whole, because it is rather a normal practice that editors selects one piece from the sequence to post in their poetry journals.
I would like to send my sincere gratitude toward Ms. Hazelton.
『Incense Smoke』
by Mariko Kitakubo
1
how can I
live and love?
every where
is Autumn...
color me too, please
2
under
the pale milky
moon...
the ripe silence
of Autumn
3
what am I
looking for ?
the last glow
of Autumn---
a dark hollow of me
4
chilly morning
Autumn will leave
soon
by the misty pond
a glimmer of hope
5
incense
smoke came
to me
and stay for a while
Covid19, 2020
Friday, February 26, 2021
Saturday, December 12, 2020
The newsletter volume 19 of "Writers association aiming for abondoning-nuclear-power society" (President: Mr. Otohiko Kaga) issued in October 2020 posted my essay "Kokoro no Arikata (the State of Mind)".
Having an agreement from Mr. Yukitsuna Sasaki, who presides "Kokoro no Hana", a Tanka association I belong to, I quoted some pieces of Tanka from Mr. Sasaki's anthology, "Teo ga Kita Hi (The day Theo became my family member)."
Although a piece of Tanka is supposed to be written in one line as in the original, it had to devide a piece into two lines due to the limitation of number of characters per line. I sincerely apologize for it.
Excerpt from the newsletter
(click the image below to read the article in enlarged size)
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
"Both Sides of the Ocean" which is a sequence of English Haiku and English Tanka that Ms. Deborah P. Kolodji and I composed together was posted in a New Zealand poetry magazine, "Kokako" in its volume 33.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude toward Kokako editors, Ms. Patricia Prime and Ms. Margaret Beverland.
Both Sides of the Ocean
tea for both
sides of the ocean
smiling moon (D)
sharing
time under
the big dipper ---
gente roundness
of our horizon (M)
was it only yesterday?
cherry blossoms lined
a graveyard (D)
chatting
on the terrace ...
our roses
under my sun
under your moon (M)
I look up
through bougainvillea
skies we once travelled (D)
clouds come
into my tea cup
and go out ...
do they drift
from mine to yours? (M)
Deborah P Kolodji & Mariko Kitakubo
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
Ms. Anna Maris, a very talented Haiku poet, invited me to the Facebook group, "Haiku books swap, buy and sell worldwide", where members can search, buy and sell haiku and related books.
I met Ms. A. Maris last year in the British Haiku Society event held in St. Albans, U.K.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude toward Ms. A. Maris for recommending Tanka anthology to the FB group.
I hope many people around the world get to know my 6th Japanese-English bilingual anthology, "INDIGO".
> click here for Facebook group "Haiku books swap, buy and sell worldwide"
Tanka Poetry book, by Mariko Kitakubo, published 2016 by Shabda Press.
ISBN: 978-0-9915772-0-0,
137 pages: ,
size: ''9.173 x 6.024",
perfect softbound,
language: English and Japanese (bilingual),
condition: new (can be personally signed!)
shipping from Japan, price: 16 US $ + postage of your choice
(I'd like to pay the postage for you. )
www.en.kitakubo.com
Monday, August 17, 2020
Village Poets' anthology, "We Are Here: Village Poetry Anthology" posted my English Tanka sequence "Borderless Prayer".
> click here to move to Village Poets website.
Borderless Prayer
rhythm of
dripping water
midnight--
when did it
turn to crimson?
overseas events
are cancelled
but our hope
won't die young
rainbow above the ocean
finding
a tiny light...
when
I rise up against
the disappointment
let's not
search for someone
to blame
we were born
to help each other
making
a spring wreath
of pansy
yellow, purple, white...
survived winter
without
color, language,
nationality...
another world
in the reflection of water
go back
to god's territory
like when
we were born
to see honesty
before
our endless
sleep
we can spread
our wings, again
tears
are meaningless
use the time
for pure
borderless prayer
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Colorado Boulevard.net posted my writing and English tanka in its Poets Salon: Masked Beauty.
Mariko Kitakubo
"our lives
generation to generation
where will we go?
a small hand gives me
a sea blue facemask"
My son's family brought my grandson to my home. He is 3 years old. He said "Here you are, Grandma!"
I saw a beautiful ocean blue facemask in a sweet small hand.
Daughter-in-law felt when she found this at the shop. Oh, this is for Mother, Mariko's color Thank you so much my dearest young family.
I am sure that the reason why I love that color, is because our ancestors came from the ocean.
It's wonderful and mysterious.
generation to generation we keep our lives 37 hundred million years ago.
and from now, where will we go , if are able to survive this crisis. Then I realized that this gift was given, July 11, the date of death of my mother.
"do you go
in search of your mother
ocean
my lost earring
was lagoon blue"
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
I am very honored that “Distance 2020”was quoted in a discussion topic on Haiku Sanctuary website. "Distance 2020" is a Tanka and Haiku sequence Ms. Deborah P. Kolodji and I created for an experiment of new way of expression.
I would like to thank Mr. Clayton Beach, who quoted our work on Haiku Sanctuary, and those who made positive comments.
Move to Haiku Sanctuary Website
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Internet magazine “Under the Basho (2020)” posted “Distance 2020”, which is the Tanka and Haiku sequence written by Ms. Deborah P. Kolodji, a Haiku poet and my close friend, and myself.
I will be more than happy if you could spend time to read the sequence created by Haiku poet and Tanka poet in California and Tokyo respectively living under the global Corona virus crisis.
>>Move to Under the Basho（2020）web page
Click the image below to view in enlarged size. 
Sunday, May 17, 2020
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