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      May 21, 2015After FukushimaMariko Kitakubo

      Tanka Sequence

      1
       
      when
      will my later years
      start?—
      a mother cat has babies
      at the ruined village

       

      2
       
      dim light
      of cherry blossoms—
      unstoppable
      petal storm in the ruins
      beyond my five senses

       

      3
       
      sounds
      of the stream
      in my homeland—
      Strontium is soaking
      into the placenta

       

      4
       
      cherry avenue
      my late mother’s favorite …
      is there
      another world?
      petal drift

       

      5
       
      there were
      days when I had
      my dream …
      are you there now?
      Betelgeuse

       

      Translated from the Japanese by the author and Kath Abela Wilson;
      Oldflute Shakuhachi by Rick Wilson

      from #47 - Spring 2015

      Mariko Kitakubo

      “While composing poems is the primary thing to do, I want to continue expressive activities by means of reading performances in and out of the country. I feel it meaningful to vibrate Japanese traditional rhythm sounds, consisting of units of five and seven syllables, in front of tanka lovers whose native language is not Japanese.”

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