Four Tanka On The Autumn Equinox<\/p>\n
-autumn-<\/p>\n
Broken free at last,
\ngolden leaves go out dancing
\nlike girls freed from the tea house,
\nbrightly dressed in rustling silks,
\ngiggling from behind their fans.<\/p>\n
– winter-<\/p>\n
In her hand the brush
\nMakes lines that are as graceful
\nas Crane taking flight.
\nYet her lines hold a stillness
\nthe stone pagoda envies.<\/p>\n
-spring-<\/p>\n
O moon, come down here,
\nSaid the emperor\u2019s daughter.
\nI am catching frogs
\nBut dropped my only lantern
\nas I watched you from the bridge.<\/p>\n
-summer-<\/p>\n
The old koi looks up
\nto see the eyes of the fox.
\nWhy brother, how kind
\nThat you have come to visit.
\nHow is it I may serve you?<\/p>\n
These are part of a challenge issued by a gentle in the Kingdom of Calontir…<\/em><\/p>\n In the year 1205 one of the great anthologies of Japanese poetry was completed, the Shin Kokin Wakashu. It collected 2000 poems in traditional format (tanka, poems of five lines in 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format) in 20 chapters, on 12 subjects: Spring, summer, autumn, winter, congratulations, laments, partings, travel, love, miscellaneous, Shinto poems, and Buddhist poems.<\/em><\/p>\nIn my Kingdom of Calontir, King Damien has been challenging people to pick one project they have always wanted to do, and to take one year and do it. I have accepted the challenge, and my project is this.<\/em><\/h5>\n