Tuesday, February 18, 2014

festive day--
suddenly everyone
close to God

bottle rockets, No 30, February 2014 ( Ed. Stanford M Forrester)
http://www.bottlerocketspress.com/

Saturday, February 15, 2014

One Man's Maple Moon

One Man's Maple Moon: Life's Shoreline Tanka by Pravat Kumar Padhy

English Original

at life’s shoreline
the sands of time escape
from many gaps …
I collect memories
embedded in sediment

Notes from the Gean, 3:1, June 2011

Pravat Kumar Padhy


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

在人生海岸線
時間的砂
從許多裂縫中溜走 ...
我收集嵌入沉積物
的回憶


Chinese Translation (Simplified)

在人生海岸线
时间的砂
从许多裂缝中溜走 ...
我收集嵌入沉积物
的回忆

translated by: Chen-ou Liu, February 2014
Bio Sketch

Born in India, poems widely published and anthologized. Works referred in Spectrum History of Indian Literature in EnglishAlienation in Contemporary Indian English Poetryetc. Poems awarded high acclamations by Writer’s Guild of India and Editors’ Choice awards. Pravat Kumar Padhy's  Japanese short form of poetry appeared in many international journals and anthologies. Songs of Love: A celebration is his third collection of verse by Writers Workshop, Calcutta. Featured in The Dance of the Peacock: An Anthology of English Poetry from India, to be published by Hidden Brook Press, Canada, 2014

1 comment:

  1. "If rhythm is the heart and breath of poetry, then surely figurative language is its beguiling and sexy skin and musculature. " As in Pravat's tanka, the figure captivates the eye, and the reader is drawn toward it through the shoreline, sands, and sediment.

    His tanka sparks the reader's reflection on the passage of time in relation to memory, and reminds me of the following remark:

    I know this much: that there is objective time, but also subjective time, the kind you wear on the inside of your wrist, next to where the pulse lies. And this personal time, which is the true time, is measured in your relationship to memory.

    ― Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending

Sunday, February 9, 2014

the spider climbs
up the corner edge
on stepping stones
the handicapped boy
aims towards the starlit sky

Ribbons Fall Issue, Vol. 9 No. 2 2013 (Ed. Dave Rice)
http://www.lulu.com/shop/tanka-society-of-america/ribbons-tanka-society-of-america-journal-fall-2013-volume-9-no-2/paperback/product-21268138.html

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

cotton flowers -
the sky blooming with
cloud-art

Shamrock No 27, February 2014 (Ed. Anatoly Kudryavitsky)
http://shamrockhaiku.webs.com/currentissue.htm

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Butterfly Dream: Rose Garden Haiku by Pravat Kumar Padhy

English Original

rose garden
fragrance filters through
prison windows

Chrysanthemum, 12, October 2012

Pravat Kumar Padhy


Chinese Translation (Traditional)

玫瑰園
花香通過
監獄的窗戶

Chinese Translation (Simplified)

玫瑰园
花香通过
监狱的窗户

Translated by Chen-ou Liu

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Bright Stars, An Organic Tanka Anthology, Vol. 1, Published by Keibooks

Bright Stars focuses on the Japanese aesthetic of ‘akarui’—bright, light, illuminated, brilliant, shiny, brassy, active, energetic, noisy, loud, happy, drunk, passionate, wild, playful, vivid, and boundless. That doesn’t mean there is no darkness—black is a color too, but our dark poems are actively dark, not a sighing shade of grey.

Bright Stars is devoted to five line poetry—tanka, waka, kyoka, gogyoshi, shaped tanka, tanka sequence, tanka prose, collaborative tanka—any form based on the short, lyrical, five part poem originally from Japan. We welcome experimentation and variation (including sedoka)—there are other venues that publish traditional tanka, but Bright Stars dreams of the future, not the past.
Bright Stars is especially open to poets who have not previously published tanka, and two thirds of the voices in Volume 1 have never or only rarely been published in tanka venues. Bright Stars also encourages established poets to send their experimental work, their new directions, and their innovations. Collectively, the poets bring fresh new viewpoints that expand the range of subjects, approaches, and techniques in tanka literature today.

to the notion of publishing fresh perspectives is the idea that tanka ought to be available to as many people as possible. Therefore, Bright Stars is available in an economical large format that contains 1000 poems for only $10 USD (£6.00 GBP / €7.00 EUR) and a Kindle ebook for only $5 USD. Small presses, because they sell so few copies, normally have to set the cover price at a level that allows them to recoup expenses. Keibooks has carefully calculated the risks and hopes that expanded sales will cover the cost of production. We are committed to the project for one year. We encourage readers to purchase copies to donate to schools and libraries, and our Educational Use Policy facilitates the use of Bright Stars in any educational setting.
Sample Poems:

he may fight for
truth, justice and
the American way,
but Superman’s still
an illegal immigrant

Grunge

beneath the mattress
seven hundred dollars
in a sealed envelope—
she never once told me
her secrets

Julie Bloss Kelsey

out
of his sweaty palms
a blooming
nightshade just as amazing
as lies from his mouth

Matsukaze

let’s quickly drink
this New Year’s pink champagne
for
we might not die tomorrow
but then again we might

Amelia Fielden

Contributors:
Alan Summers, Alexander Jankiewicz, Alexis Rotella, Amelia Fielden, André Surridge, Angelo Ancheta, Autumn Noelle Hall, Belinda Broughton, Bell Chevigny, Bob Lucky, Brendan Slater, Britton Gildersleeve, Bruce D. Reed, Carol Raisfeld, Carole Harrison, Carole Johnston, Chen-ou Liu, Clive Oseman, Christina Nguyen, Dave Read, David Rice, Dawn Bruce, Debbie Strange, Devin Walter Harrison, Eamonn O’Neill, Elle M, Ernesto P. Santiago, Eve Castle, Frank Watson, Gary Blankenship, gennepher, Gerry Jacobson, Grunge, Hank Archer, Jade Pandora, Jeffrey Harpeng, Johannes S. H. Bjerg, Joy McCall, Julie Bloss Kelsey, Kath Abela Wilson, Kathy Uyen Nguyen, Keitha Keyes, Kristen Lindbeck, Laurence Stacey, Liam Wilkinson, Luís Enrique Méndez Angulo, Lynne Leach, M. Kei, Marianne Paul, Marie Lecrivain, Marilyn Morgan, Matsukaze, Michael McClintock, Michael Seese, Mike Montreuil, Nu Quang, Nilufer Y. Mistry, Pat Geyer, Patricia Prime, Peter Fiore, Polona Oblak, Pravat Kumar Padhy, Ramesh Anand, Richard St. Clair, Roary Williams, Ruth Y. Nott, S. M. Abeles, Sandy Pray, Sanford Goldstein, Sergio Ortiz, Sondra J. Byrnes, Stephanie Brennan, Susan Constable, Terri Simon, Toki, Tracy Davidson, Tzod Earf, William Hart
rising waves
resound with the rhythm
of temple bells
composing melodies
for the Rath-Yatra by the sea
Atlas Poetica : Special Feature: Geography & Creative Imagination, Feb 2014 (Ed. Sonam Chhoki)

Ratha-Yatra (The Car Festival), annually celebrated by the Hindus, is associated with Lord Sri Jagannath, Puri, Odisha. It commemorates the journey of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and their sister Subhadra to their aunt’s temple, the Gundicha temple, which is about 2 km from the main temple. After nine days, the devotees bring back the deities to the main temple. The return journey is called Bahuda-Yatra.