Ten tanka poems
Ram Krishna Singh 1950 (Varanasi)
1
Love’s spirit descends
and melds into her body
lending it new life:
I’m amazed how the unknown
becomes one with her beauty
2
A tidal wave
touches the shore to wipe
my naked footprints
and leaves behind some shells
pebbles and memories
3
Tears dry up
leaving no marks where her pain
ends and mine begins
on the face makeup damps
with aching sweat and cold sigh
4
A serpent twists
its head to face a dragon
on her shoulder:
their tails on breast in water
swirl to cleanse my kiss on skin
5
Her smile
with the whiff of sandal
makes love livelier:
I search Tao
in the wind’s flavor
6
A happier image
with salubrious top
turns rapturous
as she tamps her love
with watery lipstick
7
After a tiff
lying under the same blanket
two of us stare
the peeping moon and turn
with glee to each other
8
The mirror swallowed
my footprints on the shore
I couldn’t blame the waves
the geese kept flying over the head
the shadows kept moving afar
9
Shaped like a bird
a drop of water lands
on her breast:
my breath jumps to kiss it
before her pelvic flick
10
Dreams puzzling
smallness of waking
I can’t live
the child’s circumcision
promise of happiness
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Submitted on September 14, 2017
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 1:04 min read
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Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXBXXB AXXXXX AXXXXX AXCDDX AXXDXD AXXEXF AXXXXD AXXXXX AXXXXF AGGXCE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic dimeter |
Characters | 1,089 |
Words | 216 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
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"Ten tanka poems" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/46254/ten-tanka-poems>.
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