Tanka Poems

Popular Tanka Poems
First Close Encounter
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Out alone at last
Seven, and rapt in lush green
Seeds of verse were sown
Yellow butterflies, hued blooms
On our new street of fireflies

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The Moon Visitation
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Backdoor wide open
A cream moon is coming in
Softly, like a dream.
Beyond red sun, pearly rays
in a lazy, lilac night.

Howling wind whimsy
'midst the fantasy flowers
in plum, pink and green.
Silver moon, always welcome

......

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Garden of Grace
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Sunday church garden
of lime green blooms, reds and creams-
Luxuriousness!
Gracefulness and scented smiles
greet butterflies in hued styles.

Orange, yellows, pinks
in the sweet whirlwind of days!
Gathered together.
To the silence, bluebirds sing

......

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Ono no Komachi translations by Michael R. Burch
by Michael R. Burch

These are Michael R. Burch's modern English translations of the ancient Japanese poems of Ono no Komachi, who wrote tanka (also known as waka) and was renowned for the beauty of her verse as well as for her physical beauty. Komachi is best known today for her pensive, melancholic and erotic love poems. Her bio follows the poems.

If fields of autumn flowers
can shed their blossoms, shameless,
why can’t I also frolic here —
as fearless, wild and blameless?
—Ono no Komachi, loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I had thought to pluck
the flower of forgetfulness

......

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Cinderella Smile
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Smile Cinderella
The high prince is coming soon
when stars dance with moon
There's yet magic to be found
so cast off those lonesome blues

Destined for dancing
in your dazzling glass slippers
Hearts were made for love
at the hour they feel magic

......

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Recent Tanka Poems
First Close Encounter
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Out alone at last
Seven, and rapt in lush green
Seeds of verse were sown
Yellow butterflies, hued blooms
On our new street of fireflies

Continue reading
Yellow Sand Memoirs
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Setting sun desert
Hot skies are blooming colors!
It's orange and red,
with the pink and lilac sprays-
and floating creamy bouquets.

Blue stars are coming
searching for deep green they missed,
near to crescent moon.
Tall cacti salute the stars

......

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Last Look
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Graceful, tall grasses
A raspberry sun peers through
from the purple sky
steps ahead of tomorrow
to nature's joy and sorrow.

Burgundy fever
smoking beautiful colors
when shadows run wild!
Must get one more glimpse of red

......

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Garden of Grace
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Sunday church garden
of lime green blooms, reds and creams-
Luxuriousness!
Gracefulness and scented smiles
greet butterflies in hued styles.

Orange, yellows, pinks
in the sweet whirlwind of days!
Gathered together.
To the silence, bluebirds sing

......

Continue reading
The Wild Places
by Evelyn Judy Buehler

Smiles on all faces
when roaming green, green spaces.
Mauve populations
and redbird expectations
thrill in butterfly nations!

Color imposes
Wild horses and red roses.
Singing lilac breeze
greets yon heather honeybees

......

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