Unfortunately, our dear Svetlana passed away before she could fully embrace this role. In honour of her, I sent in my submission anyway, knowing that she wouldn't be there to receive it.
I'm grateful that two of my tanka were chosen in the end to be part of this latest issue of Simply Haiku, which is in loving memory of Svetlana. You can read an in depth piece on her and her poetry by Robert D. Wilson here.
on the morning
of her death, I sit
searching
for the small differences
between these wild finches
why couldn't I
have let myself love her?
the sun's warmth
as I sit in the graveyard
this spring morningA posthumous book, Be Still and Know: a journey through love in Japanese short form poetry, by Svetlana Marisova, and her dear friend Ted van Zutphen, is out on-line now. You can read it free here. Print copies with be available for purchase soon.
Having been given the honour of reading a preview of the book, I can say that I've never read or seen anything like it before. It's a beautiful conversation between two haiku poets across the page, across time zones, across seasons, genders, age groups... It works extremely well as their voices balance and blend throughout the book.
I look forward to holding a copy in my hands very soon and savouring the unique voices of these two haijin.
Tanka and photograph © Kirsten Cliff
Tanka appeared in Simply Haiku (Autumn/Winter 2011) here
Book cover © Ted van Zutphen
