Basilica of San Antonio – Padua
In Val Padana
out walking in cold winter
from the bogs arise
the misty fogs of evening
there, not far away,
mournful, a lonesome dog cries
in sad bitterness
the passing of summer life
and warm nights – now gone …
clinging cloying cold wet fog
falls in Padua
I, walk alone in the fog
in muffled silence –
swishing by a car passes
then in renewed calm
a caress of sodden hands
a cold emptiness
and yet that peaceful quiet
seems to me a balm
(envoy or hanka)
ah – the winter fog
meditation comes with ease
in misty land clouds
the “here and now” stands close by
a step from eternity
© G.s.k. ‘15
Written for: Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #56 Choka (or Nagauta), Japanese “long poem”
I was looking for a little quick history of the chronological appearances of the various poetic forms in Japanese … and I came across this lovely site: A Crash Course in Japanese Poetry I won’t say it’s the most comprehensive or even the most academic … but it certainly is very fun and fundamental accurate.
In the beginning there was waka:, which was borrowed from the Chinese by Japanese writers as was katauta, one of the most popular forms was the choka , often sung and about epic subjects, sedoka, tanka and an oddity called the bussokusekika – a tanka with 3 7 onji finishing lines, which are called waka.
Only later poetry was called kanshi because it was written in Japanaese (with kanji) by Japanese… (the only one I haven’t tried is the bussokusekika) 😉
