2009 World Tanka Contest

Dear Friends,

I wanted to let you know that I have been awarded first and second place in the 2009 World Tanka Competition. It is an absolute joy for me and also very humbling. This comes at the end of a year in which I was awarded a Tanka Spendor Award for a sequence that Pamela A. Babusci and I wrote together and during which I also received a Certificate Of Merit from the Nihon Kajin Club (Japanese Tanka Poets Society).

Also, I want to thank you all for the support and companionship you have offered throughout 2009 and to wish you all a peace-filled Christmas and a very happy New Year.

I am taking a break for a week or so but will be back in early January.

You can see the winning poems by clicking on the title above.

With very best wishes

Paul

fearing
the truth in my heart
may be seen
I turn
from your gaze

day moon -
the distance between us
full of silence

by the window
watching the willow
bending in the wind
wondering what freedom
I really have

Modern English Tanka V2 N1 Autumn 2007

lingering
not a moment too long -
autumn moon

after your death
I experienced for the first time
as a poet
the inadequacy
of words

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

Simply Haiku Winter 2009

The latest edition of Simply Haiku (a major online venue for Japanese style poetry)is now up and running.
By clicking on the link above you can view four of my tanka poems & a nijuin renku that Frank Williams and I wrote together earlier this year.

Besides this there are many other top quality works by some of the fields leading poets. Well worth a visit and the archives are a treasure trove just waiting to be found.

a sliver of moon
in the clear night sky
but not
the faintest notion
you were leaving

Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine (online November 2009)

Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine

Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine is a great online venue for short form Japanese Poetry and is well worth a visit. The vision at LPP E-Zine is to showcase some of the best contemporary short form poetry in a venue that is easy to access and open to all.

Don't take my word for it, take a look for yourselves and perhaps lend a little support to this exciting venture by submitting a poem or two from time to time.

out of the blue
a few moments
of pure pleasure
the two of us
our give away smiles

Modern English Tanka V3 No1 Autumn 2008

along the road
so many moon-filled nights
and stars to share


For Devika, Kristin & John

trust me
if you dare
for like the sea
I hold secrets
deep within

Modern English Tanka V2 N3 Spring 2008

through a hole
in evening sky
a butterfly leads the way

autumn rain -
the old oak dripping
with moonlight

I have just encountered 'Two Piano Fragments' by Liam Wilkinson, they are absolutley beautiful. Check them out for yourself.

scribbled blue
along the reed-tops -
kingfisher

beyond the moon
something like longing
is calling me

finding its shape
on the river -
autumn wind

this small desire -
to look down on your eyes
looking up
and swim in the light
of the moon

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

in the shape of wings
an end has come to this path -
butterfly

Moonbathing

A Journal of Women's Tanka.

Editors

Pamela A. Babusci
Cathy Drinkwater Better

A new and exciting journal of women's tanka is now seeking submissions.
Click on the link above for more information.

late summer -
on this day of glimmering sea
and sky
I've become
the wind's song

Modern English Tanka V3 No4 Summer 2009

I see myself
in the shape of a leaf...
falling

Haiku News

I have recently discovered a new and exciting online project called 'Haiku News'
It is presented in the format of a newspaper and seeks to capture world-wide news items in the haiku (and related) form (s), with links to relevant articles.
Submissions are being sought right now and I would encourage you to take a look and then possibly send a poem or two along for consideration.

like the ocean
there are depths
in my heart
that will remain
forever unknown

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

autumn equinox -
I leave the dandelion clock
wishing for nothing

a red leaf falling
louder
than a thousand drums

Inspired by a Frank Williams Haiga

overcast -
pointing out sunflowers
my youngest son

early autumn -
in only a few short days
these leaves have turned
for change in you
I've waited a lifetime

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

on your lips
is it the promise of spring
that you bear
or just an illusion
of the winter sun

Modern English Tanka V3 No4 Summer 2009

autumn dusk -
one hundred million dreams
beneath our feet

morning walk -
the shape of windfalls
in dew

following three swans
at dawn
the river's silence

wanting so much
through the years
but now
just to hold you
to be held

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

your every movement
is like breath to me
a gentle breeze
heading out
across the sea

for Karen on her birthday

you gave me life
fixed me when I was broken
but now that you've gone
all I can do is wipe
dust from your smile

Modern English Tanka V2 No3 Spring 2008

only a dream?
that day we rose
and fell together
weightless through
a summer sky

Modern English Tanka V3 No4 Summer 2009

I would
ask the wind
of freedom
but fear I could not
live its truth

Modern English Tanka V3 No4 Summer 2009

crescent moon -
the surprise of a heron
overhead

adding a touch
of blue to the breeze
dragonfly

MAGNAPOETS Issue 4 July 2009

a delicate flower
battered and bruised
by the wind -
these past few months
that's how I've seen you

Modern English Tanka V3 No4 Summer 2009

through steamed glass the world appears as it is

I see it
deep in your eyes
a mythic bird
beautiful wild
and free

Modern English Tanka V3 No4 Summer 2009

stifling heat -
the occasional whirr
of dragonfly wings

somewhere
beyond the stars
I imagine you
gently calling
my name

Modern English Tanka V3 No4 Summer 2009

You can view a number of my recent tanka poems
by clicking on the above link and scrolling down.

fortress mind -
all these years
and still
this moat
these walls

Modern English Tanka V2 No4 Summer 2008

longest day -
flicker of goldfinches
in the heather

after a time
making daisy chains
on the lawn
the fairy runs wide-eyed
back to the house

for Hannah

Modern English Tanka V2 No3 Spring 2008

she lingers
before saying goodbye -
summer moon

late summer -
a flock of gulls
fills the sky
so many restless hearts
in search of a home

3 Lights Gallery 'Way Back Home' October 08

looking back
from the steamed mirror
my distorted face
beneath the smooth skin
how much remains unknown

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

filling the lake
on their way to where
these clouds

Blithe Spirit V19 No1 March 2009

unsettled
by the sound of a wasp
this nothingness
that found me waiting
impossible to grasp

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

blue dusk -
the egret's shadow
long gone

turning my back
on a world of dreams -
moonlit snow

Ambrosia Spring 2009

I have four poems published in this edition which may be read by clicking on Ambrosia above.

in a meadow
full of summer
dragonflies

a fallen leaf
swirling on the ground
before me
who knows what spirits
surround us as we go

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

scent of lavender
on the breeze - slowly
each breath deepens

facing me
on this bright autumn day
two sunflowers -
for once I am happy
to reap what I've sown

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

walking
through autumn leaves
I see the future
on an elemental level
as certain

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

The Spring edition of Modern English Tanka is now online and you can read a selection of my recent poems by following the link and scrolling down.

this strange desire
to dance in the light
of the moon
and vanish
without trace

Modern English Tanka V3 No3 Spring 2009

flowering cherry -
no one seems to notice me
slip into that world

in my hand
the weightless shape
of a moth's wing

spring rain -
my shadow leaves me
along the path

spring dawn -
dropping a stone
in the lake
it ripples
right through me

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

spring rain -
the dark edge of a cloud
shapes the sky

downstream
a handful of blossoms
and a promise

spring rain -
blossoms in the puddle
fill the sky

early spring -
camellia buds
full of promise

for hours
the thought that nothing
lasts forever
troubles me
then is gone

Modern English Tanka V2 No3 Spring 2008

stormy sky -
some days my mood
colours everything

Blithe Spirit V18 No4 December 2008

this solitude
I craved so long
and now
wishing you were here
beside me

Modern English Tanka V2 No2 Winter 2007

for a moment - nothing but snowdrops

again
my only companion
the silence
of snow
falling

Threelightsgallery 'Snowdays' Exhibition Jan 09

http://www.threelightsgallery.com/snowdays.html

finding him
at the park
my inner child

scattered beneath
the temple bell -
cherry blossoms

for Simon

some days
even my own company
is too much
but where can you go
to escape from yourself

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008

autumn sunrise
only the colours
are warm

Presence 34 January 2008

a face
from the distant past
and again
this sense of how things
could have been

Blithe Spirit V18 No4 December 2008

your voice
a quiet whisper
and once again
the whole world
is spring

Modern English Tanka V3 No2 Winter 2008