a found tanka — 14 July

stopped i await
her coming in the night
what a treasure
she watches me. I say: 
‘was it you?’       and she answers... 

A found tanka after Russian romantic poet Anna Akhmatova and her ars poetica poem, The Muse (1924) in belated celebration of her birthday on June 23 1889.

This daily tanka is taking a short break to catch up on some housekeeping and wander by still pools. Back in a little while.

For music this morning, here’s Portuguese fado-iste Anna Moura with her fabulously successful album Desfado (Youtube)

found tanka — June 29

as he eats

he eyes 

the world

in his spoon

— how might

it end

for this man

this white carton

this suffering ?

An erasure (with a few liberties) of Jane Kenyon’s poem Man Eating, from Let Evening Come, Selected Poems, Bloodaxe Books, 2005, p. 128. (A marvellous collection from a fine poet gone too soon – if you’ve not read her poem ‘Having it out with melancholy‘ take a moment, it’s right here).

And for music this morning, some Indo-Baroque meets alt-folk minimalism from British string duo Balladeste — a collaboration between violinist Preetha Narayanan and cellist Tara Franks. Here’s their 2021 album Beyond Breath (Youtube).