INFJ

INFJ,

four letters that ID me ...

Myers and Briggs,

bet you didn't know

I'd paste them on my forehead

—Ribbons, Tanka Cafe (theme: "Self-identity"), fall 2016

I'm kind of borderline in the last two test categories (not the first).

Papers, cards, letters

papers, cards, letters 
crammed in every cranny 
of their house … 
I unearth a clipping, 
How to bust a litterer 

—Frameless Sky, issue 5, fall 2016

I took possession of that clipping. And if my desk weren't so cluttered, I might be able to find it.

A gift

a gift
of lion earrings
from the suitor
who kept insisting
I was a mouse

—red lights, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 2014

"Cartoon" haiga: to woo me

—haiga published in Prune Juice, issue 11, Nov. 2013

"to woo me" first published in Fire Pearls 2, 2013

artwork courtesy of friend Karen A. Smith

Haiga: spill your tanka

artwork courtesy of Karen A. Smith; dedicated to Sanford Goldstein

—Prune Juice, #10, July 2013

This is known as a haiga, sort of; haiga typically refers to a marriage between illustration and haiku, though mine contains a tanka (or kyoka) instead. I call this one, not surprisingly, a "cartoon haiga." 

Most poets in the tanka community probably are very familiar with the concept of "spilling." The expression above is attributed to Sanford Goldstein, scholar/professor, translator, and tanka master of the past few decades—also candid mentor and kind friend to many of us. I'm not a terribly prolific writer; Sanford told me several times to get myself to a cafe (as he himself would do) and then "spill" (without "thinking")! Maybe someday I'll better heed his advice, though I suspect I'll always prefer my own home, where my words tend to come out in the form of occasional sputters instead of flowing out.

For those in the U.S.: H A P P Y  T H A N K S G I V I N G!

False positive

Well, since I've just returned from a long journey, maybe an airport tanka is fitting:

false positive
from the airport scanner—
so quick
I don't see it coming,
a woman's hands on me

—Fire Pearls 2, 2013

That didn't happen this time. :)

My knight

my knight,
your perfection's gleam
enticed me;
now I thank you often
for charming someone else

—Modern English Tanka, Vol. 1, No. 1, Autumn 2006 ("11 Good Kyoka: Experiments in English," by M. Kei); Fire Pearls (2006)

Several years ago, I participated in a small online group, Kyoka Mad Poems, hosted by M. Kei. A label is only a label, but we had fun producing what apparently were some of the earliest poems in English to be formally labeled (e.g., in publication) as "kyoka." 

He scrutinizes

he scrutinizes
their every play;
I'm in it
for the commercials
and their firm Super Bowl butts

—Prune Juice, Issue 3: Winter 2010

She warns me; I cringe

A couple more kyoka, or kyoka-like tanka, from Prune Juice:

she warns me
not to let the cat get out,
her old Persian
that barely even moves
an inch an hour

I cringe
at my reflection . . .
the charm
with which he offers
to bash out all our mirrors

—Prune Juice, Issue 9, July 2012

See "Kyoka vs. Tanka - examples" by M. Kei at his Kujaku Poetry & Ships blog. 

Bills laid out; I contemplate

A couple of tanka-esque poems, or kyoka, from Prune Juice. Have always loved the name of that online journal.

bills laid out
for payment by phone . . .
I clear my throat
before conversing
with the automated voice

I contemplate 
buying "hotel" towels . . .
as advertised,
the comforts of home
away from home, while at home

—Prune Juice, Issue 9, July 2012

Will post more from Prune Juice in the near future.