Contemprary Tanka Poet Mariko Kitakubo. Reading Performance.
Tanka reading performance oveseas.
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From 4:00 p.m. PST on Apr. 6 (8:00 a.m. JST on Apr. 7), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting presided at by Ms. Kathabela Wilson. The pleasure of creating some sequences by all the participants on beautiful seasonal flowers was an exceptional opportunity for me to feel the closeness to each other although we live in different countries. My sincere thanks to Ms. Kathabela for suggesting this wonderful session. This time again, I was happy to have the opportunity to perform a reading of two pieces of the English Haiku and English Tanka sequence, which Ms. Deborah P Kolodji and I created together. I realized once again that the joy of being connected in the world of poetry, transcending national borders, is a rich source of support for our spirit as we live through tough times of covid, military invasions, and carnage. |
After the meeting, Ms. Kathabela Wilson posted a wonderful comment. Thank you very much!
"We all arrived spontaneously with flowers today! You can see all the variations! Nature shows us how to bloom. And so we had all brought in flowers from the gardens and shared. Totally unplanned Mariko with forget me not Sharon with rose and bougainvilla... We wrote a spontaneous 8 poet tanka sequence with Mariko waving her wand on each! So beautiful and listen to two tanka/haiku new sequenced by Mariko and Debbie! Rick played his 280 year old flute. ... AND Mariko her percussion! Happy Spring Wednesday! Mariko Kitakubo Deborah P Kolodji Sharon Hawley Kris Kondo Charles Harmon Ritchie Albert Sigrid Saradunn."
Thursday, April 7, 2022
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From 4:00 p.m. PST on Mar. 30 (8:00 a.m. JST on Mar. 31), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting presided at by Ms. Kathabela Wilson. |
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I performed a reading under the cherry blossom trees in Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo of the 23rd sequence I created with Ms. Deborah P Kolodji. It brought back fond memories of when I came here with her three years ago. |
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Blessed with fine weather, I shared with everyone in the meeting a piece of sequence themed around the atmosphere of the season of cherry blossoms in full bloom and world peace, which is under threat. I was able to spend a new and memorable day. |
Thursday, March 31, 2022
At Spoken World Live, 2022.3.12 PST (2022.3.13 JST), I presented a reading of five English tanka sequences written by myself.
For almost all of the poems, I added a Japanese tanka based on the same theme as in the original English tanka and played some percussions while I performed reading.
This video was recorded after the live streaming of the Spoken World Live event.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
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I participated in Mr. James Evert Jones' Zoom Poetry event, "Spoken World Live," as a featured poet. I presented a reading of the Japanese-English tanka sequence consisting of five pieces of my tanka poems, which convey the thoughts of a poet who survived the Covid pandemic and is facing the war-torn era. I received more than 50 enthusiastic comments from different continents, and I cannot find any other word to express my gratitude. I have delivered my reading via Zoom nearly 100 times in the past two years under the Covid pandemic. And in this "Spoken World Live" Zoom event, the organizer told me that "the Japanese performance touched my heart deeply, even though I could only understand the English part." "To become a medium to transcend language" is my philosophy, and I always kept it in mind when I performed my readings during the face-to-face presentation. I received many wonderful comments from the audience, and I felt that my endeavor resulted in fruitful results. I am very honored that I was able to deliver the emotion directly from soul to soul in the "Spoken World Live" event, too. Thank you very much to Mr. James Evert Jones and all the participants. I am sorry that I cannot introduce all participants in the picture. There were so many! |
Let me introduce some of the comments made while my reading performance.
| 15:17:48 | Kathabela Wilson | Yay Mariko.... traveling the world to us! |
| 15:18:18 | maxianne berger | always love to see and hear you☺️ |
| 15:20:20 | maxianne berger | oh .. not a gourd .. |
| 15:21:41 | Phynne~Belle | Oh my goodness, I could imagine Mariko and Edith Blackbird performing together…⭐ |
| 15:22:57 | Akiko Yoshimura | Beautiful Mriko’ｓ world、clear sound and |
| 15:23:29 | Phynne~Belle | The sensory experience here… |
| 15:23:47 | Kathabela Wilson | borders are invisible to the universe.... |
| 15:24:01 | Lynda V. E. Crawford | ^^^ |
| 15:24:02 | Kathabela Wilson | deep and powerful.... angeltalk |
| 15:25:24 | Phynne~Belle | …let me stay with you a little bit more… |
| 15:26:40 | Phynne~Belle | “…silhouette of death…” |
| 15:27:22 | Kathabela Wilson | powerful writing and feelings... |
| 15:27:37 | johnmacdonald | This is so inspiring and moving |
| 15:27:47 | Kathabela Wilson | love the couple of wings |
| 15:29:06 | Phynne~Belle | …loving the waiting time... |
| 15:29:56 | Phynne~Belle | …under the sky…like after my death |
| 15:30:12 | Kathabela Wilson | under the sky like our memorie…. |
| 15:30:25 | Carmen Durrani | From Carmen Durrani |
| 15:30:38 | Carmen Durrani | Very profund feelings expressed. ThaNKS |
| 15:31:36 | maxianne berger | love hearing the small songs in Japanese .. and the emotion in the voice |
| 15:31:54 | Phynne~Belle | …the night I escaped/from suicide… |
| 15:33:12 | Jeanne Nakano - El Camino College | thank you everyone for you wonderful comments. |
| 15:33:49 | Kat703679habela Wilson | love cherry blossoms... color me too..... and so powerfully placed in the sequence |
| 15:34:23 | Kris Kondo | touched so deeply thank you Mariko |
| 15:34:56 | Lynne Bronstein | This is a classic |
| 15:35:11 | Kathabela Wilson | I am lifted into the spring sky! |
| 15:35:43 | Kathabela Wilson | in the sky forever.... yes ,,,, your love for this is so clear... to be in flight |
| 15:35:55 | iPad carolyn fitz | Such a visual story…from your expressive poetry ❣️ thanks for your invite today… |
| 15:36:48 | Phynne~Belle | …where is God watching from… |
| 15:37:18 | David Lanoue | 凄い! amazing! ありがとうございました！ |
| 15:37:26 | Roxanne de Freitas | I feel completely transported. Deep gratitude, Mariko. |
| 15:37:30 | maxianne berger | tahnk you, Mariko [applause] |
| 15:37:45 | Lawrence Berger | Amazing M ariko! |
| 15:37:47 | Phynne~Belle | What an amazing experience, Mariko!!!♥️♥️♥️ |
| 15:38:03 | Kathabela Wilson | yes, thank you for adding the tect! |
| 15:38:05 | Rose Hamilton | Thank you for that prayer. So beautiful and important in these days |
| 15:38:15 | Mary Belknap | I loved ‘you will and I will miss you” |
| 15:38:36 | Kathabela Wilson | Mariko you speaking did carry themselves.... very clearly and strongly |
| 15:39:14 | Rose Hamilton | Got a sense for the emotions and senses from the Japanese |
| 15:39:16 | Roxanne de Freitas | completely transcendental |
| 15:39:16 | Lynda V. E. Crawford | Mary, yes, that line “you will and I will miss you” is so compelling! |
| 15:39:29 | Marianne Szlyk | Again, so much in so few words. |
| 15:39:31 | Kathabela Wilson | wonderful James-- that you felt that-- the Japanese and the expressive poetry |
| 15:39:32 | Roxanne de Freitas | definitely felt that soul to soul |
| 15:39:42 | Roxanne de Freitas | Arigato Mariko |
| 15:39:55 | Kathabela Wilson | wonderful Mariko |
| 15:40:08 | jbewilk1@mac.com | beautiful reading, Mariko! |
| 15:40:56 | Lynda V. E. Crawford | Mariko, you transported us to a world somewhere out in the universe. So soothing and poignant ♥️ |
| 15:43:35 | Robin Wind-Faillace | Very enjoyable readings! Thank you everyone! |
| 15:45:25 | Phynne~Belle | True, true, and true. |
After the live streaming, I made a video to show you my reading of five original English tanka which I presented at Spoken World Live.
Click here to watch the video.
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
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From 4:00 p.m. PST on Mar. 9 (9:00 a.m. JST on Mar. 10), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting presided at by Ms. Kathabela Wilson and presented a reading of the latest English haiku and tanka sequence that I wrote together with Ms. Deborah P. Kolodji. |
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It was a great pleasure to spend a rich time with all the other talented members and their various creative expressions. Thank you very much for all of you. |
Thursday, March 10, 2022
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From 4:00 p.m. PST on Feb. 23 (9:00 a.m. JST on Feb. 24), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting presided at Ms. Kathabela Wilson, and presented a reading of my latest English tanka sequence. |
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In the meeting, I had an opportunity to listen to the Tanka sequence co-created by the other members. I was deeply moved by their presentations because it was the moment for me to witness the realization of my long-held dream of spreading Tanka to the world. I would like to express my sincere gratitude toward everyone who enjoys the beauty of Tanka. Even in these difficult times, please continue to express your world with your rich sensibility. |
Thursday, February 24, 2022
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Feb. 16, 4 p.m, PST (Feb. 17, 9 a.m. JST), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting presided at by Ms. Kathabela Wilson. I gave a reading performance of the latest and previously created English tanka and Haiku sequences, which were collaborations with Ms. Deborah P Kolodji. Although I had some adverse reactions to the third vaccination, I was happy to be able to get in touch with the members' international world of poetry, even if it was through the LCD screen. |
Thursday, February 17, 2022
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January 19th, 4:00 p.m. PST (Jan. 20th, 9:00 a.m. JST), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting presided at by Ms. Kathabela Wilson. I had a chance to perform a reading of my new English tanka sequence about a mother and a child, and also enjoyed an improvisational collaboration with the other members. Although it has been a while since I attended the meeting last time, I was fortunate to have many fresh inspirations. |
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Thursday, January 20, 2022
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January 5th, 4:00 p.m. PST (Jan. 6th, 9:00 a.m. JST), I participated in the Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting presided at by Ms. Kathabela Wilson. Although I felt a bit under the weather, I presented a piece of my English tanka, and my fellow members submitted their poems one after another inspired by mine. Soon, it turned out to be a tasteful sequence! It felt like the beautiful glow from every one of the poems presented shines our bright future. My sincere thanks to Ms. Kathabela Wilson and my fellow members for this impressive and provocative opportunity. |
Thursday, January 6, 2022
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December 29th, 4:00 p.m. PST (Dec. 30th, 9:00 a.m. JST), I participated in the last Wednesday Poetry Zoom Meeting of this year presided at by Ms. Kathabela Wilson. I performed a reading of my English tanka including some impromptu pieces. Although we are still under the threat of continuing Covid-19, I feel that my 2021 has been protected by bright sunshine derived from the efforts to move forward together with my fellow artists. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all my fellow members. |
Thursday, December 30, 2021
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