TANKA SPLENDOR 2003

With great pleasure AHA Books announces the poems picked as best by the participants of the contest for this year. There were a total of 202 single tanka and twenty-one tanka sequences as accepted entries. These were written by 98 authors. Each author submitting with an e-mail address was sent a list of all the anonymous entries which they then judged by picking ten of the individual tanka and three best sequences. In addition, each pick could be given a grade of A, B, or C. The grade then added to the one-point vote with either five, four or three points. From these totals, the 31 tanka with top scores and the three sequences with the most points were declared winners.

The poems are listed in order beginning with those receiving the least points, 17, and ending with the tanka given the highest number of points – 40. The winning sequences had 34, 37, and 39 points each.

WINNING POEMS

Oh, you silly words!
Tangling me in distraction
As I try to write,
Like an insistent lover
Tickling my ear with whispers.

early morning
I stumble through darkness
half asleep
tripping over intentions
laid out the night before

A column of clouds
Hiding the midday sun rays
A beautiful sight
Artwork of shadows and light
Changing with each gust of wind.

expect the end
and yet when it now arrives
what preparation
I pinch the heads off flowers
and start throwing things away

coming to bed
I watch you sleeping
in the last light
of the candle
you lit for me

Silver fish frozen
in blue ice midway between
lake and sky, between
yesterday and tomorrow,
between harsh winter and spring.

on nights like this
echoes of my footsteps
fill the rooms
I awaken to the sound
of my own breathing

Cinco de Mayo-
awash in margaritas
Tito Puente's drums
my forsaken muse and I
stumble upon one another

from Japan
a friend with breast cancer
writes me at last
“my hair is growing up”
tears slip into my smile

cold jelly slathered
by an indifferent nurse
my ovaries scanned
another cyst --
it too shows no emotion

wishing to ease
my loneliness
i plant peonies
on my mother's grave~
her silence profound

for years now
he’s been pretending
it’s too late
to do the things
he should have done

from over my shoulder
his plea for no more poems
about leaving
but when i turn to look
even the birds have flown away

planting flowers
in the late spring rain
I am overcome
this sudden urge to kiss you
as if life depends on it

sleepless
floorboards creak
drifting between rooms
the moon and I
play hide and seek

You leave me hungry
as wolves scratch at windowpanes
tasting only snow
the tooth-cold famine of fields
in a cafe on Seventh

waking each morning
to this nightstand photograph,
walking to 1st grade
can we walk slower now, this
first day of your senior year?

with each snip
this hedge takes shape
neat and orderly
these borders
that separate us

waiting for my son
in the high school parking lot
gawky and restless
even among their own kind
a loose assembly of crows

was it your hand
that held my own so tenderly
in dream last night
just so the chrysanthemums
hold traces of summer rain

scattered rocks
along a mountain gorge --
with careful steps
I approach mid-life
one foothold at a time

for my deaf niece
the waves break mutely --
yet she dances,
the rhythm at the shoreline
ebbs and flows through her feet

in the dark with you
I have nothing to say
we sit and watch
lightning bugs flashing out
their illuminations

bedridden
Dad takes my hand in his
and says he's tired
of the whole damn thing. . .
his eyes have never been so blue

Spellbound at the window
the patient diagnosed
with multiple personality--
a flock of blackbirds
flying as one.

SNOW SCENES
Grant D Savage

drinking tea
from a white porcelain cup
i gaze out the window
at a snow covered street
and your memory

your sheets
were printed with blue blossoms
but could as easily
have been snowflakes
your eyes before love

your hair
once brushed my face like this
in the wind
the touch of snowflakes
also melting

snow fills the shadows
left in a squirrel's tracks
in this white world
only the cardinal's red
to remind me of love

sun on snow melt
so long now without you
almost able
to enjoy the memories
without tears

drifting aimlessly
in memories of you
in last year's grass
snowflakes steadily
cease to exist

POEMS OF ONE NIGHT
Lin Nulman

I'm sure people crossed
the tracks and platforms mutely,
in blindfolds. No one
could possibly have seen you,
mouth on mine, kissing a ghost.

Poets and liars
use their tongues to bend the truth
to what they need. Bend
my tongue again with yours. Just
one of us will tell a lie.

Passengers near me
glance around the train, seeking
the source of that hum.
My fingertips that touched you
shiver on, and say nothing.

Something reads my palm
aloud all night, pronouncing
signs written there-- the
map of you. Better no sleep
than risk a dream you're not in.

I was always
a little afraid of her;
now she’s dying
I stroke her hair,
say soothing words.

In tornado season,
the way we watched the sky
and listened…
the space between
her labored breaths.

The eerie quiet
of hospital hallways
at midnight;
the greater silence
of the room we left.

We find words,
say them over and over;
at the funeral
only the "Ave Maria" soars
over the mourners’ chatter.

The murmur
of bamboo leaves
by her grave;
I try to overhear
the secrets she took.


					TANKA SPLENDOR AWARDS 2003



	THE WINNERS hortensia anderson Pamela A. Babusci John Barlow Sarah Birl Marjorie A. Buettner x 3 Katryn Dougherty Amelia Fielden Suzanne Finnegan Lawrence Fitzgerald Erin Harte Cherie Hunter Day Bergen Hutaff Doris Kasson x 2 M.L. Mackie x 2 Thelma Mariano Keith McMahen x 2 Joanne Morcom Lin Nulman Grant D. Savage Tracy Schlueter Alan Spring David Steele’ George Swede Maria Szabo Martina Taeker John A. Vanek Alison Williams Jane E. Wilson (Sharp-eyed readers will note that now there are only 30 individual winners this year. It was found that one poem had been entered into another tanka contest previously and that poem has now been disqualified and removed from the list of winners.)				With great pleasure AHA Books announces the poems picked as best by the participants of the contest for this year. There were a total of 202 single tanka and twenty-one tanka sequences as accepted entries. These were written by 98 authors. Each author submitting with an e-mail address was sent a list of all the anonymous entries which they then judged by picking ten of the individual tanka and three best sequences. In addition, each pick could be given a grade of A, B, or C. The grade then added to the one-point vote with either five, four or three points. From these totals, the 31 tanka with top scores and the three sequences with the most points were declared winners. The poems are listed in order beginning with those receiving the least points, 17, and ending with the tanka given the highest number of points – 40. The winning sequences had 34, 37, and 39 points each. WINNING POEMS Oh, you silly words! Tangling me in distraction As I try to write, Like an insistent lover Tickling my ear with whispers. Maria Szabo early morning I stumble through darkness half asleep tripping over intentions laid out the night before Keith McMahen A column of clouds Hiding the midday sun rays A beautiful sight Artwork of shadows and light Changing with each gust of wind. Katryn Dougherty expect the end and yet when it now arrives what preparation I pinch the heads off flowers and start throwing things away Marjorie A Buettner coming to bed I watch you sleeping in the last light of the candle you lit for me John Barlow Silver fish frozen in blue ice midway between lake and sky, between yesterday and tomorrow, between harsh winter and spring. John A. Vanek on nights like this echoes of my footsteps fill the rooms I awaken to the sound of my own breathing Thelma Mariano Cinco de Mayo- awash in margaritas Tito Puente's drums my forsaken muse and I stumble upon one another Erin Harte from Japan a friend with breast cancer writes me at last “my hair is growing up” tears slip into my smile Amelia Fielden cold jelly slathered by an indifferent nurse my ovaries scanned another cyst -- it too shows no emotion Sarah Birl wishing to ease my loneliness i plant peonies on my mother's grave~ her silence profound Pamela A, Babusci for years now he’s been pretending it’s too late to do the things he should have done Alison Williams from over my shoulder his plea for no more poems about leaving but when i turn to look even the birds have flown away Doris Kasson planting flowers in the late spring rain I am overcome this sudden urge to kiss you as if life depends on it Marjorie A Buettner she says “I miss myself” how is this dementia hers not mine? M.L. Mackie sleepless floorboards creak drifting between rooms the moon and I play hide and seek Martina Taeker closing the door on a warm damp night I feel again the awful soft resistance of a toad David Steele in one small suitcase a lifetime of expectations going away M.L. Mackie You leave me hungry as wolves scratch at windowpanes tasting only snow the tooth-cold famine of fields in a cafe on Seventh Bergen Hutaff waking each morning to this nightstand photograph, walking to 1st grade can we walk slower now, this first day of your senior year? Lawrence Fitzgerald with each snip this hedge takes shape neat and orderly these borders that separate us Keith McMahen waiting for my son in the high school parking lot gawky and restless even among their own kind a loose assembly of crows Cherie Hunter Day was it your hand that held my own so tenderly in dream last night just so the chrysanthemums hold traces of summer rain Marjorie A Buettner scattered rocks along a mountain gorge -- with careful steps I approach mid-life one foothold at a time Jane E. Wilson for my deaf niece the waves break mutely -- yet she dances, the rhythm at the shoreline ebbs and flows through her feet hortensia anderson in the dark with you I have nothing to say we sit and watch lightning bugs flashing out their illuminations Tracy Schlueter holding the letter informing me of my inheritance these hands that never held hers Alan Spring when i tell her i won first prize she talks about the weather winds of chance Doris Kasson bedridden Dad takes my hand in his and says he's tired of the whole damn thing. . . his eyes have never been so blue Joanne Morcom Spellbound at the window the patient diagnosed with multiple personality-- a flock of blackbirds flying as one. George Swede WINNING SEQUENCES SNOW SCENES Grant D Savage drinking tea from a white porcelain cup i gaze out the window at a snow covered street and your memory your sheets were printed with blue blossoms but could as easily have been snowflakes your eyes before love your hair once brushed my face like this in the wind the touch of snowflakes also melting snow fills the shadows left in a squirrel's tracks in this white world only the cardinal's red to remind me of love sun on snow melt so long now without you almost able to enjoy the memories without tears drifting aimlessly in memories of you in last year's grass snowflakes steadily cease to exist POEMS OF ONE NIGHT Lin Nulman I'm sure people crossed the tracks and platforms mutely, in blindfolds. No one could possibly have seen you, mouth on mine, kissing a ghost. Poets and liars use their tongues to bend the truth to what they need. Bend my tongue again with yours. Just one of us will tell a lie. Passengers near me glance around the train, seeking the source of that hum. My fingertips that touched you shiver on, and say nothing. Something reads my palm aloud all night, pronouncing signs written there-- the map of you. Better no sleep than risk a dream you're not in. SCENES FROM HER DEATH Suzanne Finnegan I was always a little afraid of her; now she’s dying I stroke her hair, say soothing words. In tornado season, the way we watched the sky and listened… the space between her labored breaths. The eerie quiet of hospital hallways at midnight; the greater silence of the room we left. We find words, say them over and over; at the funeral only the "Ave Maria" soars over the mourners’ chatter. The murmur of bamboo leaves by her grave; I try to overhear the secrets she took.



	Check out the TANKA SPLENDOR Contest Rules so you can enter the next contest after June 1, 2004. The deadline for the new contest is September 30, 2004. Read online the results of past contests Tanka Splendor 2003 Tanka Splendor 2001 Tanka Splendor 2000 Tanka Splendor 1996 Tanka Splendor 1994 Tanka Splendor 1990 Purchase copies of Tanka Splendor from AHA Books Bookshelf.				Poems Copyright © Designated Authors 2003. Tanka Splendor and this web page Copyright © Jane Reichhold 2003. Because of the current practice of some harvesting addresses for spamming, the poems are listed by names only. If you wish to correspond with any of these persons, you can obtain the author’s address by e-mail.

WINNING POEMS

WINNING SEQUENCES