the pain in her smile for the 20 bucks i spent Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy, Birmingham, UK Anyone with parents who came of age during the Great Depression will relate to this tanka. Or those who grew up in a frugal household. The pivot from the poet’s to the mother’s “surprise” is what makes this tanka so delightful. Perhaps the son or daughter accidentally left the “pain” price tag on or maybe the mother asked outright: much?” Surprising her with a bouquet “How implies that the poet has not done this before. The small case show how unassuming the ‘i’s’ son/daughter is and the choice of the slang how casually the money was spent. “bucks,” Third Place worn thin after all these years my worry stone cracks in half— all my worries set free Lesley Anne Swanson, Coopersburg PA This tanka expresses empathy toward an inanimate object that has absorbed the poet’s anxieties. Like the apprehensive poet, the worry stone too has become thin” from the “worn negative energy rubbed into it. For many years, the stone has enabled the poet not to “crack,” and now it literally has cracked open. Cleanly and with perfect symmetry. Finally, the stone is set free and we sense that the poet is too.
the pain in her smile for the 20 bucks i spent Shrikaanth Krishnamurthy, Birmingham, UK Anyone with parents who came of age during the Great Depression will relate to this tanka. Or those who grew up in a frugal household. The pivot from the poet’s “surprise” to the mother’s “pain” is what makes this tanka so delightful. Perhaps the son or daughter accidentally left the price tag on or maybe the mother asked outright: “How much?” Surprising her with a bouquet implies that the poet has not done this before. The small case ‘i’s’ show how unassuming the son/daughter is and the choice of the slang “bucks,” how casually the money was spent. Third Place worn thin after all these years my worry stone cracks in half— all my worries set free Lesley Anne Swanson, Coopersburg PA This tanka expresses empathy toward an inanimate object that has absorbed the poet’s anxieties. Like the apprehensive poet, the worry stone too has become “worn thin” from the negative energy rubbed into it. For many years, the stone has enabled the poet not to “crack,” and now it literally has cracked open. Cleanly and with perfect symmetry. Finally, the stone is set free and we sense that the poet is too.
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