Gabriel Rosenstock’s Tanka Series – 9
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1.
and for no reason
people danced the whole day long
a joy to behold
and one of my songs for You
rekindled an old passion
2.
what a fool I am
no bus will take me to You
i always end up
in a strange new terminus
no idea where I am
3.
numbered among clowns
I am, beloved – fakirs
well then, so be it
in this life one has to be
something more or less . . . (i guess)
4.
a panacea?
a cure for the pain of love –
or a love potion
men wait in a pharmacy
only God knows what ails them
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
