Contemprary Tanka Poet Mariko Kitakubo.
お知らせ
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I had an opportunity to give my bilingual tanka reading performance overseas for the first time since the fall of 2019. Ms. Anna Maris, a Swedish poet I met at the British Haiku Society event in St. Albans, UK, three years ago, invited me to this creators' event in Tranas, Sweden. |
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Starting at 17:45 p.m. on July 7 (local time), I presented a reading performance of my previously-created and newly-created Japanese and English tanka poems for 30 minutes. The sensitive audience listened to my reading performance with tears in their eyes. I was glad that everyone enjoyed my presentation. After my presentation, we had free-talk time with the audience. It was a heartwarming time, and I enjoyed communicating with them. |
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After the event, I received a request to give another presentation to those who missed my performance. On July 8, I presented my reading performance again at a live music club after dinner. It was a grateful offer, and I did my best to give a Japanese-English tanka poem reading. |
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I am very honored that more than 100 people came to the event. |
Thursday, July 7, 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
let's pray
for everyone...
the border
is invisible
to the universe
Thursday, June 30, 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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May 18, 4:00 p.m. PST (May 19, 8:00 a.m. JST), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting hosted by Ms. Kathabela Wilson from Karuizawa where the leaves are bright green. I was fortunate to spend a rich and inspiring time enjoying improvised poems with everyone and presenting my new English tanka poems at the meeting. |
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Ms. Chúc Mỹ Tuệ, founder and editor-in-chief of SHABDA PRESS, announced that they will be publishing a collection of English tanka and haiku sequences created by myself and Ms. Deborah P Kolodji.
I am very grateful and honored by their announcement because SHABDA PRESS publishes one book of poetry a year in print with their goal to produce beautiful, high-quality, well-designed poetry books.
I will announce the details of the publication at a later date.
Ms. Chúc Mỹ Tuệ, thank you very much.
* Photo above shows "INDIGO" (Tanka poetry collection by Mariko Kitakubo published) and "highway of sleeping towns" (Haiku & Senryu collection by Debora P Kolodji) both published in 2016 from SHABDA PRESS.
Friday, May 13, 2022
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