30 Tanka in Cholla Needles, USA

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Cholla Needles

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
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

4
her smile
with a whiff of sandal
makes love livelier:
I search Tao
in the wind’s flavor

5
her letter smells
the lotus she wore each time
meeting in the dark:
I touch her fingers again
with all the hopes and passion


6
I love her undress
the light with eyes that spring
passion with kisses
she leaves her name again
for my breath to pass through

7
before the foamy
water could sting her vulva
a jelly fish passed
through the crotch making her shy—
the sea whispered a new song

8
his message to meet
at moonrise among flowers
sparkles a secret
on her smiling face passion
glows with charming fervor

9
a mist covers
the valley of her body
leaves memories
like the shiver of cherry
in dreamy January

10
shaped like a bird
a drop of water lands
on her breast:
my breath jumps to kiss it
before the pelvic flick


11
watching the waves
with him she makes an angle
in contemplation:
green weed and white foam break
on the beach with falling mood

12
a moment of love
and long silence for years:
from dream to nightmare
again fear grips my soul
I sense her presence around

13
love is the efflux
from her body spreading
parabolic hue—
enlightens the self I merge
in her glowing presence

14
they watch the bare back
to feel the body through crotch
thank engraving pen
she loves the etching on skin
to enhance nudity

15
the wine of love swells
in my vessel dark shadows
recede human dirt
between sound and silence greets
the joy and bliss of spirit


16
drinking evening star
blue green patterns before eyes
no meditation
no god visits to forgive
the sinning soul in quietude

17
after the tiff
lying under the same blanket
two of us stare
the peeping moon and turn
with glee to each other

18
tears dry up
leaving no marks where her pain
ends and mine begins
on the face makeup damp
with aching sweat and cold sighs

19
I thought I would make
tea for her but she was sleeping
I didn’t wake up
our back faced each other
once again cold birthday

20
near the railway track
she squats with hands on the knees
and hides her parts
in half-dark the naked truth
transforms nature into nude


21
peeping through the fog
the sun feebly comforts
a sparrow’s nest
built under the window sill:
I hear a new-born crying

22
weaving no web
a dark fishing spider
mates in the creek
and curls up hanging from the twat
in one-shot deal

23
on the wall
the window grill’s shadow:
midnight pain
overwhelming touches
indifferent after-taste

24
along the wall
crouching in wrinkled shawl
an opium addict
dodges his mother waiting
with dinner in the kitchen

25
over the dried moss
rains have grown new layers
making the path more
slippery for all of us
falling is a postscript now


26
waving arms of trees
conspire with overcast day
to drench again
the two of us look for shade
under leaking umbrella

27
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

28
resting his chin
on the back of his palms
he stands at
the dusted railing to watch
the planes take off

29
waiting for the remains
of sacrifice vultures
on the temple tree
stink with humans and goddess
on the river’s bank

30
I’m no river
flowing toward the sea:
I must find my way
asking strangers in strange places
sensing soul, using insight


https://www.amazon.com/Cholla-Needles-Issue-7/dp/1547180188/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1498798199&sr=8-6&keywords=Cholla+Needles&linkCode=sl1&tag=eartaste-20&linkId=9d1bcc730c9098d29945eaa38ea01964

Cholla Needles, Issue 7, July 2017, pp. 9-15