Contemprary Tanka Poet Mariko Kitakubo.
お知らせ
The following Tanka Sequence "Lament" was published in TSA Ribbons Spring/Summer 2025:Vol 21 No.1 along with an introduction to the Tan-Ku Online Magazine KIZUNA.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the editor, Susan Weaver, for devoting her precious space to it. Thank you very much.
Lament
Mariko Kitakubo, Tokyo, Japan
- for Deborah P Kolodji -
from the other side
of the cosmic noise
what?
I faded out,
repeating No..
not knowing
if it's true or not
I float
in the air,
drifting for a few days
what is time?
the coldness
of rocks
left behind
by rapids
still
searching for Debbie
I get lost
in the crowded festival
that is this world
longing
is always
lonely sky
remnants of fireworks
...darkness
Note: The poet's new online tan-ku journal, Kizuna (Bonds), dedicated to Deborah P Kolodji, is open for submissions. Read it at https://www.en.kitakubo.com/index.php/category/tan-ku_association
Ribbons - Spring/Summer 2025 -70
The following work was published in the Tanka Hangout theme The Five Senses in TSA Ribbons Spring/Summer 2025:Vol 21 No.1.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the editor, Ken Slaughter.Thank you so much.
what is
the border
between
real and dream...
voice of the deceased
Friday, May 16, 2025
Tan-Ku Association Online Magazine KIZUNA page is newly opened!
Please visit to check the details.
URL: https://www.en.kitakubo.com/index.php/category/tan-ku_association
Monday, March 17, 2025
2024.12.12 Thank you so much, Dr.Kazuaki Takeda for offering me to recite Japanese poetry and tanka for students at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music.
It was a great honor for me!
Today (January 15, 2025), thanks to Dr.Kazuaki Takeda, I have been requested to recite the lyrics of the Japanese songs ``Konomichi'', ``When I become sad'', and ``Sakura Yokocho'' at Toho Gakuen College of Music. I was given it. At the end, I had the rare opportunity to read a series of tanka poems I had written about the sense of hearing, accompanied by Mr. Takeda's Nohkan performance, and it was a very rich and enriching moment.
Thank you very much to Dr.Kazuaki Takeda, Ms.Kaoruko Kanbe, and Ms.Paku.
Friday, January 17, 2025
The last report of 2024 is that our (Deborah &Mariko)prayer for peace, Tan-Ku, has been published and translated in Bulgarian Gendi Haiku. It was a fitting end to the year, both publicly and privately. Dear Publisher: Gabriela Zaneva and Compiler: Dimitar Anakiev, Thank you so much.
Stormy
speting snow
or petals of sahuru
falling falling
like ashes
in Ukraine (Mariko)
trains geing west
a child's stuffed bear
stares out the window (Deborah)
whose uniform...
a sunflower sprout
comes out
of the camouflage
pocket (Mariko)
the caws of crows
footage of survivors
underground (Deborah)
searching for
better days...
repeated invasions
in our layered
past (Mariko)
petal storm
is there a chance
for peace (Deborah)
Monday, January 6, 2025
My tanka sequence has been published in "Tanka Kenkyu Yearbook 2024" and "Comprehensive Annual Poetry Collection 2024 10,000 Poems".
I am very honored.
thank you very much.
北久保まりこ
猫として生まれしポレが丸くなる 種のへだたりの曖昧な午後
祖先より何千世代の旅のはて喉を鳴らせり百歳の猫
猫とゐる背にそそぐ陽のおだやかさたもちたしわれ一人のときも
永遠にをはりは在るか 長椅子に旅立ちまでの時のおくゆき
泣く膝に静かに触れし肉球の沁みゐる夕べ もう一度泣く
2024年5・6月合併号、300歌人の新作短歌 掲載より
A new project in the January/February combined issue of Tanka Kenkyu, an article was posted on the bulletin board.
Thank you very much.
Contents
Tanka bulletin board
This is the new "Announcement" section. This issue is a "posting" from Mariko Kitakubo.
We have launched the "Tan-Ku Association," an association for a new genre of poetry, Tan-Ku. Tan-Ku is a form of poetry created together with the excellent American haiku poet Deborah P. Kolodji. Two authors alternate between tanka and haiku, and a combination of one work each is called a Tan-Ku set, and two or more works are called a Tan-Ku series.
It was a way for close friends who were prevented from traveling together due to the COVID-19 pandemic to connect their hopes for the future over the Internet. Sadly, Deborah passed away from cancer last summer, but I am sure she is watching over us from heaven as we rowed out into the open sea.
Tan-Ku is like playing catch, where you respond to a tanka or haiku that the other person throws at you. It's interesting to see each person show a different angle. The author was amazed at Deborah's clever response, saying, "I see!", and was immersed in the collaboration. We will be launching an online magazine, "KIZUNA." Our association can be accessed by anyone, regardless of country or nationality, from the URL on the left. The first Tan-Ku collection, "DISTANCE" was published by Shabda Press in 2023. The second Tan-Ku collection, "ETERNAL," is scheduled to be published in July of this year.
Friday, December 27, 2024
My works were appeared in the Fall/Winter issue of Ribbons, the magazine of the Tanka Society of America, in Selected Tanka and Tanka Hangout.
Thank you very much for giving me your valuable magazine.
Selected Tanka
losing my voice
for two weeks
quiet home
quiet roses
purring old cat
Mariko Kitakubo, Tokyo, Japan
Tanka Hangout: Poems about Poetry
today's tanka is...
grandma said
everyday...
summer skies
on her birthday4
Mariko Kitakubo, Tokyo, Japan
Thank you so much TSA, for using my work for the 2023 Anthology.
quietness
of the oak barrels...
timeless
sharing wine
without a pandemic
Mariko Kitakubo/Tokyo, Japan
Monday, December 9, 2024
Dear Mr. Richard Gilbert, Thank you so much for publishing our Tan-Ku tribute to Deborah P Kolodj by Kathabela and me in your online Journal, Heliosparrow.
The time I used to make Tan-Ku while communicating with Debbie every day via messenger feels far away, and my sadness has never subsided. The years (almost 17 years) I spent with her are the treasures of my life.
Melody
creaking
of the bridge,
stream sounds ...
miss you so
in the reflections (M)
a flute plays
in the same garde
your voice (K)
Mariko Kitakubo, Kathabela Wilson (Tan-Ku)
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Dearert friends!!!
If you can't visit my new FB official page, Tan-Ku Association, Please use this link!!! Thank you so much.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565293782799
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
|
|
On August 30, 2024, I attended Ms. Deborah P Kolodji's funeral and recited the Tan-Ku sequences and Tan-Ku sets that I had compiled with her, as well as the Tanka Sequences in memory of her, in Japanese and English. |
|
|
On August 30, 2024, At the ceremony after the funeral. I presented reading to many of the guests invited. |
Friday, August 30, 2024
|
|
On August 29, 2024, I attended the wake of Ms. Deborah P Kolodji, my soulmate and co-founder of Tan-Ku, and recited a tanka sequence in Japanese and English in her memory. |
|
|
At the wake of Ms. Deborah P Kolodji |
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Prev- Next
