Tanka by Gabriel Rosenstock

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Gabriel Rosenstock’s Tanka Series – 7

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1.

they stand in judgement
‘j’accuse!’ they say with one voice
it penetrates me
                 ‘you have sung nothing!’ they say
                  ‘She awaits the song of songs’

 

Cranes, 1978 - Huang Yongyu                   https://www.wikiart.org/en/huang-yongyu/cranes-1978


 

2.

see beyond organs
beyond the desert of skin
the mirage of eyes
              hear beyond the range of ears
              the dust storms of emotions
 
Adam and Eve, 1965 - Carlos Alonso
 
 

 

  
3.
 
how can this be true
how could words represent You
if words could see You
               they would surely hold their breath
               a breath longer than a book
 
Man Reading, 1922 - Eduard von Gebhardt

 


 

4.
 
  it cannot be known
  cannot be understood
  or communicated
         why then, beloved, 
         do i look for You in words
Diving, 1932 - Koshiro Onchi
                           https://www.wikiart.org/en/koshiro-onchi/diving-1932

 

About the Author

Gabriel Rosenstock is a bilingual poet (in Irish & English), haikuist, tankaist, playwright, novelist, short story writer, essayist, translator, writer for children and champion of ‘forlorn causes’ – the phrase is Hugh MacDiarmid’s. He is a Lineage Holder of Celtic Buddhism and a member of Aosdána (the Irish academy of arts and letters). Among his awards is the Tamgha-i-Khidmat medal (Pakistan) for services to literature. Gabriel’s most recent volume of poetry is Glengower: Poems for No One in Irish and English (The Onslaught Press). His website: https://www.rosenstockandrosenstock.com