TANKA TAKE HOME . 6 April, a Wednesday feature

hosts: Firdaus Parvez, Kala Ramesh, Priti Aisola, and Suraja Roychowdhury

Introducing a new perspective to our Wednesday Feature!

book of the month: 'the forest i know' by Kala Ramesh

‘the forest i know’, for me, despite the name, is like a river meandering through the landscape of life. A woman’s life. But, it is not just an external journey that merely touches landmarks and events. It flows from deep within, sometimes at a leisurely pace, other times speeding up. The dedication page itself sets the pace for the book.

to:

inward flowering …

still fresh in my mind

the song sparrow’s twirl …

sleepless

I hum a note or two

and set its wings to music

Every Wednesday for the month of April, I will be sharing some of the poems that touched me the most. Let’s venture on this journey together, feel the rawness of heartbreak, and the honest vulnerability of a poet finding herself.

garbha

the womb

a sari-clad woman –

those sheer lines

of her hips

as water from the earthen pot

spills a little with each step

slipping

into my consciousness

the shape of things

will I be able

to recall the storyline in each

for generations

we’ve lived on dream spaces

drawing

words from life’s breath

as keepsakes …

--- a tanka sutra

‘sutra’ means thread in Sanskrit

I will let the poems speak for themselves. Ponder over them, and glean your own interpretation. Tell me about it and then, write your poems in the comments.

Are you inspired!

An essay on how to write tanka: Tanka Flights

We are delighted to open the comment thread for you to share your unpublished tanka and tanka-prose (within 300 words) to be considered for inclusion in haikuKATHA monthly magazine.

Also, please do mention, under your poem, if you would like feedback.