Unless stated otherwise, all poetry on Swimming in Lines of Haiku is Copyright Kirsten Cliff and may not be reprinted in any form without written permission from the author. kirsten(DOT)cliff(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Monday, May 20, 2013

Collaborative Tanka Sequences in LYNX

The latest issue of on-line journal Lynx (28:2) is out now with two tanka sequences I've collaborated on this year, with two different poets.

The first is Uncharted Depths with Kat Creighton (US). This was my first time writing with Kat and I enjoyed the process immensely. I was in the middle of summer, while Kat was in winter, so we decided to write to our own season, which I think worked well. I hope we'll be writing together again soon. Here is a favourite of mine from that sequence:


hoping I'll know
when I've become whole . . .
so much to learn
watching the sunflowers
watching the sun

~Kirsten Cliff


The second tanka sequence is Lost & Found with Margaret Dornaus (US). Margaret and I have written together a few times now and I always learn so much through the process. We already have another in the pipeline! Here's my most memorable tanka from this joint creation:


first dream of the year
diagnosing her pain
as leukaemia . . .
could I find the strength
to do it over again

~Kirsten Cliff


My first dream of 2013 really was about me being a doctor and diagnosing a patient with leukaemia! It's poetry like this that stops me from wrapping up my first book manuscript as I keep finding more to write about and process about my journey with cancer. But I have given myself a deadline this year for completion, so I'll let you know how I get on.

Enjoy Lynx -- it's full of haikai treasure!

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