Though winds blow,
coloring the
autumn bush clover,
my heart is no grass or leaf
that changes hue
tanka
a tanka in three lines by Ishikawa Takuboku
Sadness of the lifeless sand:
rustling,
it falls through my fingers as I clutch it
a tanka by Fujiwara No Teika
Because limits are set,
today I have taken off
my mourning robe,
but there’s no end
to my tears
a tanka by Lady Izumi
There’s no color
called love
in this world,
yet how thoroughly
it has dyed my heart
translated by Hiroaki Sato
a tanka by Fujiwara No Teika
Thinking of the past I wake, mind empty–
the moonlight gone, I do not know where
Untitled Tanka by Fujiwara No Shunzei
Very well–
but at least let me
hope for favor
in some life to come,
I who now suffer beyond enduring.
Leonard Durso 