Tanka Kukai 11 Favorites
Tanka Writing Roundtable • Millikin University • Spring 2024
1 like ice cream Leah Flint (4) This simile in this tanka performs beautifully. There's this childlike feeling to it, almost like you've just gotten home from school and are eating ice cream outside. I love that "you" is ambiguous, meaning that if we apply the childlike wonder to this tanka, it could be a parent. Or it could be a lover. Either way, I enjoy a good simile or metaphor in tanka. Eden Niebrugge, Spring 2024 |
2 two roads diverged Sophie Nicholson (6) |
3 this time Sophie Nicholson (3) |
4 I’ll go where you go Skylyr Choe (3) I love music, so I appreciate that this tanka is based off of song lyrics! I also like the idea presented in the poem that the author is willing to follow this person to the end of the earth. It’s sweet and also illogical in a way, to decide that you will be happy following someone through destruction, as long as you’re in it together. A very thought-provoking poem! Leah Flint, Spring 2024 |
5 fingers crossed Skylyr Choe (4) I feel like I'm watching this from a third person point of view. These two people obviously enamored with each other for different reasons; one is lying, and the other is truthful. I enjoy that the turning point is at the beginning, rather than the end. It shows how bitter this person is towards the liar. Great poem! Eden Niebrugge, Spring 2024 |
6 was it always so obvious Skylyr Choe (3) |
7 bad news Sophie Nicholson (6) |
|
9 still feel the kiss Leah Flint (5) My relationship is long-distance right now, so I relate to this one a lot. When you’re living apart from your partner, you carry that loneliness and it can truly make it feel like time slows down—at least, if you’re not occupying your time enough. I feel like this tanka is so carefully written and conveys so much because of it. The line breaks feel really natural and effective, and the “you left” on its own line conveys that double meaning of the kiss they left, but also that they left the speaker. This one is so sweet and sad at the same time, and I really appreciate that emotional honesty here. Sophie Nicholson, Spring 2024 I love how gentle this tanka is – it really captures that slow and warm wake-up that comes with sleeping with your partner in their bed, and how those quiet moments become what you focus on or come back to when you are alone or tired. It speaks of a sadness the body aches for, though quietly, and a steadily increasing yearning that feels terribly romantic. I really like this tanka, as sappy as it may come off for some. Skylyr Choe, Spring 2024 |
10 taco night Eden Niebrugge (6) I really enjoyed this tanka because of how mundane it is. I believe that most people can relate to this. It's also very dramatic, which makes it kind of humorous, but you also know exactly how it feels to be in the same position as the author. It also appeals to the senses very well. I can imagine the scene perfectly in my mind. It sets the scene right off the bat, and as the tanka continue, it’s as if the story is unraveling just like the taco itself. McKenna Beals, Spring 2024 This tanka makes me laugh. It feels very tongue-in-cheek in the way it portrays that kind of minor disappointment associated with the scenario it’s describing. I also like the structural elements of this tanka, with the alliteration in “toppings tumble” and “soft shell split.” The ending line is so deadpan and funny, which I love. Sophie Nicholson, Spring 2024 Yet again, one of Eden’s food poems! I spoke about this in class, but I vividly remember taco nights at my house as a child. We always did hard shells, and the taco meat would make the bottom of the hard shell soggy. The taco would split and all the toppings would fall out onto the plate, ruining the perfect taco that had been created. When I was younger this would upset me a lot, and my poor mother tried to remedy the situation as best she could, but I would get VERY angry! Makes me want to make tacos! Leah Flint, Spring 2024 |
11 washing machine Sophie Nicholson (3) There’s just something about how this one is written that really pleases me. Maybe it’s the formatting of each line, or it’s the way in which it captures a sense of frustration so unique to its writer but still manages to convey something other people can understand and empathise with. I also really like the use of the word lament, as this is a sorrowful experience to not have a working washer when you need to get laundry done. I can totally understand the pain of not getting to wash your clothes, and it just continues to pile up and you worry about having to wear dirty things or potentially start to smell, and- ugh, it’s an inconvenience at best, and an expensive health hazard at its worst. Skylyr Choe, Spring 2024 |
|
13 oh to be Leah Flint (6) I love this tanka because of the really interesting dynamic it establishes between the present and the past. I love the first two lines, as they establish a longing for childhood when someone (likely a parent) was always looking out for the speaker. But the longing comes with the caveat of wanting to be in “two places,” which to me suggests that the longing is complicated. The speaker wants to go back to that childhood simplicity, but also wants to stay where they are. I think this dynamic is really true to growing up and finding independence for the first time. College is when most people move out for the first time, and that can be really bittersweet. I relate to this tanka a lot in that way. Sophie Nicholson, Spring 2024 |
14 missing the clear blue Leah Flint (8) As someone with a terrible memory, I often look back at my photos and am surprised by how much my family has changed. Despite not like photos, I need them to remember important things in my life, even if they're not good photos. I, too, have a fear of forgetting. Eden Niebrugge, Spring 2024 |
15 BS! Skylyr Choe (3) |
16 spilling secrets Eden Niebrugge (3) |
17 499 puzzle pieces Eden Niebrugge (3) |
18 punching the mirror Skylyr Choe (2) |
19 the glass McKenna Beals (5) I made a note when we were looking over these for the first time that this sounded like one of the tanka I had also written for this kukai. I really liked it, then, because it conjured for me a new image that may not have existed if I hadn’t written that tanka, and then saw it right before this one. Reading it on its own, I must say it seems more like a cup or some other kind of glassware is being thrown at the wall in anger or upset than the act of punching/breaking a mirror on the wall and that produces a whole new scene of anger or disappointment. The final two lines make me think of the way it feels to dissociate when things happening around someone are too much and they feel the need to escape it in order to come back okay, and I appreciate the metaphor to that of shattered glass because it helps to drive the implication of this being a painful experience. Skylyr Choe, Spring 2024 |
20 third degree burns Skylyr Choe (4) I really loved how extreme this tanka is. In class, we talked about how it's from a child's perspective and voice. I think that is a really interesting concept since children are much more extreme and dramatic. They lack the understanding or the ability to emotionally reason when their feelings are hurt. This tanka displays that perfectly. I like that you don't really understand where the tanka is going from the beginning and it surprises you on the very last line. McKenna Beals, Spring 2024 |
21 fairy figurine Sophie Nicholson (5) |
22 playing cards McKenna Beals (5) My siblings and I have a wonderful relationship with my dad’s parents and we are lucky enough that they live in our home town, so we grew up spending a lot of time with them. My grandma on my mother’s side did not care about letting us win, but my dad’s mom would put up with almost anything to please us. One of my favorite memories is a game my younger brother made up called “the animal game” where he would set out all of his toys and have them fight each other against the other person playing. He would make up rules along the way so that no matter what my grandparents did, their animal would lose. They always let him go on and have the fun. Brings a tear to my eye thinking about it — they are some of the best people I know! Leah Flint, Spring 2024 |
23 looking through McKenna Beals (4) |
24 a bucket full Sophie Nicholson (4) I really enjoyed this tanka after hearing more perspectives and readings of it in class. I like that the 'ripest one' was included, it really made it bring out that the person was carefully picking the perfect strawberry for the other person. Also, it is very descriptive and appeals to the senses nicely. I also like that it can display that affectionate side, but it's also kind of hidden unless you really dig into the deeper meaning behind the tanka. It's not just a tanka about that. It gives you an experience as well. You can picture the strawberries, nice and red, but there's perfect one that is being place into the mouth. It also gives a sense of time with the 'patient', as if it's taking a bit and we're along for the journey. McKenna Beals, Spring 2024 |
© 2024, Randy Brooks • Millikin University
All rights returned to authors upon publication.