Here and there
Aches all over
First hot
Then cold
Fatigue.

I like this one because it can relate to several circumstances. When I first read it I immediately thought of someone fighting the flu or a cold. When it comes on you, you ache all over and feel miserable. You get hot with the sweats. Drenched from foot to head, it only takes a few minutes to then get the chills from sitting in your wet clothes. Then you are physically drained. Even days after the effects of the flu are gone, you still feel fatigued. I also saw a woman going through the phases of menopause, always hot then cold. She aches from growing older and feels worn out much easier than just a few short years ago. Also, she aches all over and is fatigued because she does know that this is the sign of going into the last season of her life. In the midst of the hot flashes and then the chills, it is easy to forget that she is going into the best years of her life and maybe the longest. Terry

On the mountain,
Hidden
A blade of green grass
Yearning to be free
Will spring arrive soon?

Bernie Ryan (4)

When I read this tanka I envisioned my children dying to get outside to play. Everyday I pick them up from the day care my son says mommy I want to go outside. Well now it is nice enough to be out but about 4 weeks go it was not. So I took the hidden as the children being hidden inside, absolutely dying to get outside and asking me everyday mommy when can we play outside, I want to ride my bike. So my children are the blade(s) of grass yearning to be free. Dee

This tanka gives a clear description of a single blade of grass wanting to grow, hidden on the mountainside. When will spring come so it can flourish? This has the analogy of so many people’s lives. I feel like that blade of grass at times. Waiting my turn for my spring to arrive and so I can grow. I hope that my spring is when I graduate and I can flourish in a new career. However, we do know that it will not be down the avenue of poetry. kathy

Sleeping so peacefully—
Exhausted
I watch her sleep
Grateful she’s mine.
I love her so.

Terry Leach (4)

Touch me
Love me like you used to
Hate me
Don’t ever let me go
To walk away takes such courage

Amanda Zucco (3)

This brought back lots of feelings, conflicting feelings, from deciding to end my marriage. It is so true in that part of you wants to be in love like you once were and another part of you hates the person for hurting you. Walking away and taking that chance is a very courageous and brave thing to do – especially when you are the one that has the potential to lose a lot. Bernie

I really liked this one. It sounds like some one in a relationship that loves someone, but has to leave because of certain circumstances, It would be so easy to stay, but the relationship is unhealthy this is why it takes such courage to leave it hurts! Katrina

Ripples glide across the pond
As a brown thrush cries;
Walking, soft green grass under feet
Blue sky, white billowy clouds overhead
Content… this simple way of life

Tears flowing
For I know that you must go
I watch my life
The past, present, and future
Independently climb upon the big yellow bus

Amanda Zucco (2)

Standing in the crowd
Lost from my love
I search aimlessly
Hopeful,
As the parade passes.

Eight lanes of traffic
Am I in the one I need to be in?
Was it 294 toll way
Or 94 toll road
God, am I lost?

Brad Wagner

This tanka sums up very nicely driving in and around Chicago or most any big city and not really knowing where you are going. Or if you are even on the right interstate. I have been in this predicament before and traveled back and forth on a toll road because I took the wrong route or missed an exit. It is very frustrating and completely confusing. I prefer to be the navigator and not the driver on trips like that! Pat

Floating on the river
Lost in her thoughts,
A girl in her youth
Happy
Desires never to return.

I have floated rivers in tubes. I have floated rivers in rubber boats. I have floated rivers in canoes. Every experience could be summed up in this poem. (Every experience that is, except for the sections of class 4 whitewater.) I was one of the two students selecting this poem as a favorite. I selected it mostly because it reminds me of my time on the river. Happy is a wonderful way to capture the many emotions felt during a warm, sunny day on the river. The last phase is clever because it can be taken so many different ways.

Maybe the river floater realizes this perfect day can never be repeated. She concludes she should not even attempt to recapture a moment like this and vows to never return. Instead she will remember this day, and as time passes the memory will grow ever sweeter. The day will reside in her memory as a monument to the happy feelings experienced this day. Rather than risk spoiling the memory, she “desires never to return.”

Or, perhaps, as she floats happily down the river, the cares and weights of life fade from memory. The gentle rocking of the tube in the river. The cool water so effectively working against the hot sun. Youth gives way to emotion and for a moment she seriously maps out viable ways to never return to the hurried oppression of her life. She “desires never to return” to her non-river floating life. Mike

Walking down the aisle
Floating on a cloud
I watch with pride,
My daughter
How beautiful she is.

Orange, yellow, pink, purple
Balls of finely threaded plastic chicken wire,
Skrunchies filled with soap.
Feels so good
Gliding over my skin.

My image is of walking down Main Street of my hometown as a youth. In the fall, our main street is beautiful with trees lining both sides of the street. My friends and I used to walk up and down Main Street to go to our community park. The trees are slightly bent and they hang slightly over the road. One cannot see the sky because of the bushy trees. In the fall, the leaves turn shades of red, orange, yellow, and green. As we walked along the sidewalk, we would kick at the leaves. The owners of the houses would have big piles of leaves raked and we would kick at them or jump into the pile scattering their hard work about. Marcia

Friday at noon
five friends lunch.
Laughter rules the time.
Depth consumes the surface,
safety is this time.

Mike Bailey (2)

This one reminds me of the friends I have made in my cohort. About once a month a few of us get together for dinner and laughter. It is so much fun and we can all be ourselves. We are no one’s secretary, wife, mother or girlfriend. We are just a group of girls having dinner and enjoying our time together. Mickey

Loving sisters
Playing together
Later there will be
Hair pulling and
Name calling.

Pat Luedke (2)

This is so much like me and my sisters when we were young. We could get along so well and then at the drop of a hat, we would be fighting. I’m sure this is true with all siblings. My boys are like this without the hair pulling. Mickey

This tanka hit home today because I have 2 children, my daughter is 8 and my son is 4. He decided he wanted to stay the weekend at grandma’s house so he could play with his uncle. Well the house has been very quite almost too quiet as it has only been my daughter at home this weekend. My husband is at this very moment on his way to Champaign to pick up the little monster. When he first arrives I know he and his sister will be happy to see one another, but mark my words that will only last a good twenty minutes, and twenty minutes may be a stretch. Soon after there will most definitely be name calling and arguing and I know I will hear from one of them get out of my room. Dee

Watching and listening.
Admiring hands flowing
Over the key board.
This prodigy—
My child.

Wanda Norris (3)

This makes me think of every parent who has ever watched his or her child perform in any manner. The pride you feel is only overshadowed by the nervousness you have for them. It is more nerve-wracking to be the parent in this situation than it is to be the performer. When the performance is over and the child has done well, the pride far outweighs the nerves. Bernie

I can picture a child playing a piano that has great talent. You can feel the admiration the parent has for their child. I know this feeling of admiration. I feel this for my child everyday. The pride that I take in him is such a great feeling. I believe that my son is a prodigy as well, but should not every parent take such a stance? As a parent, you can only hope and pray that you will be a good influence, leader, and mentor so they can go through life and make all their dreams come true. kathy

Nice talks on the phone
Long walks down the block
Sweet kisses exchanged
Warm hugs shared--
The softness of your hands

This poem gives me the image of a new found relationship. The couple meets and exchange telephone numbers. They talk on the phone for hours and find that they have a million things in common. Soon they will be meeting on weekends for long walks throughout the neighborhood. The first kiss is uncomfortable, but nice. They embrace and feel each others love. Soon they will converse their love for one another and holding hands. Ah, first love is grand and the feeling you have when it begins is indescribable. I can actually feel the butterflies in their stomach when they start to talk on the phone. The feelings grow more intense when they start seeing each other in person. Once they move in together the newness will fade and they will be comfortable in each others presence, but first love is grand. Marcia

The smell of smoke
In a large night club
Smiles natural
Beautiful
The light in the room green

edited to:

smokey night club
in a large green lit room
her smile natural
beautiful
as she passes by

My Father’s Heart is Broken
And not by love
Questions are asked
However, there are no answers
Would he listen to them anyway?

Graduation day
is finally here.
No more homework.
My life is back.
Reintroducing myself to my family.

Mickey Hrvol (4)

Reintroducing myself to my family
Even though I have more time to put in before graduating, I can relate to this poem very well. It seems like all I focus on is school, homework, and work. Where does my child fit into the picture? At times, it feels like she doesn’t. I will be glad to finish this section in my life and start another. I want to be able to spend more quality time with my daughter and myself. Sometimes I feel we are both lost in the shuffle! Patty

The crisscross of trees
Outside my window
This spring night
I breathe not for fear
Of wakening my love

Marcia Gordon (3)

No lights
No blow dryer
No hair curlers
Aha, a pony tail holder
Hence, the bad hair day

Chaos, children crying
Hail beating against me
Wind roaring in my ears
As I gather my children
A mad dash to the neighbors basement

Katrina Farris

As I noted in class this tanka reminded me so much of my own neighborhood. Our neighbors usually come running to get in our basement when severe weather threatens. During one storm someone wanted to know where the refreshments were, so I microwaved popcorn and served soft drinks. I decided after this episode that I did not really want the neighbors piling in our basement anymore. What started out as a neighborly gesture turned into more than we bargained for. Pat

After darkness
Longing to be
Like the rain
Washing the world
Clean

Marcia Gordon (4)

I envision someone lying in bed at night during a thunderstorm, listening to the rain fall and softly hit the bedroom window…just thinking. Thinking of how new and fresh the rain makes everything – longing to be in a position to better my world, to gently cleanse all that is ugly and evil in pursuit of a more meaningful life. Amanda

Cubs win! Cubs win!
Opening day
of baseball season.
No better way
to begin the spring.

My two boys
I love you so.
Smart and handsome
Funny, yet serious.
Oh, how proud I am.

How lonely
Along the cemetery
A man bows
To hear his wife
and plant a flower

Marcia Gordon (7)

This poem is great. The cemetery is a great place to put a reader in a poem. I like the feeling of a cemetery because there is a different mood there compared to a football game. The cemetery is a place for calm respect of passed loved ones. I like the part about the man bowing his head. This line is very respectful of a passed love one. The man keeps the spot where his wife is buried tidy. You can almost see the man when the poem is being read. The line about hearing his wife is cool because when he’s there its almost like she is still there. —Josh

I really like the way this poem makes you feel. The man’s pain of losing his wife is very real. This may be the way the man communicates with his wife, since you can’t really tell how long she has been gone. He wants her resting place to be pretty, so he plants a flower for her. It could be a flower that he has given her at one time. It just makes me feel that this man loved his wife so much, that even though she is gone, he still goes to talk to her and that brings him peace and maybe even acceptance of her death. Patty

Both in class and as I read this poem again, my mind inserted “road” after the word cemetery. “Along the cemetery - road.” I think lonely triggered my disposition to place the setting in the country, along a road, at an old church cemetery. Funny (strange). To me, even this unasked for insertion, adds to my attraction with this poem. There is something in the wording that draws more out of me. It sets a mood – lonely. The poem sets a stage – along the cemetery. I, as the reader, using this emotion and the memories elicited by cemetery, insert the picture. I then add the necessary words to support my picture.
As I said in class, the progression of the poem is effective. For me, the realization the man was tending his wife’s grave was not apparent until the last line. Good surprise, good twist, at least for me. Mike

This Tanka is beautiful and speaks of enduring love. The man is lonely and is drawn to the only place he finds comfort. He’s not really alone – just visiting and conversing with his wife. The way that it is written does not reveal that she has passed until the last line. It’s almost as if she’s walking right beside him the entire way! Amanda

I lay and watch you sleep
Your face so sweet and innocent
Why do you love me?
You know my faults,
And still you love me

GRACE

The weight of my wrong.
My head bowed.
His hand lifts my gaze,
His embrace so sweet,
kind-freedom in His eyes.

Mike Bailey (4)

I like this one very much because I can relate to this one. This poem is talking about what Jesus does for all who put their faith and trust in Him. Our sins are a weight that we need not carry but must. We are bowed over with the extreme weight of how much we have offended a Holy God. But, He loved us so much that Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead. Because Christ has already paid the price for our sins, it is senseless to carry our sins with us. He gently reaches down and wants to lift each of our heads to look Him in the eye and see how much He loves each of us. Christ stretched out His arms wide on the cross to show that all are welcome to accept His free gift. When we do, he will embrace us with His sweet arms and never let us go. He longs to give us freedom from our sins, but we must look Him in the eyes and accept that free gift. Because it is His grace that makes it possible, there is nothing we can do to earn His salvation. Terry

Death knocked
In our family, again!
How much can he take
He stand strong
With tears in his eyes

Katrina Farris

Too many clouds
I remember the night we met
Screams so loud and true
I longed to be part of your life
As if we were always together

Dirt road
Leads to water
Fish jump for freedom
Excitement overwhelms
The summer sun overwhelms the fishermen.

Fashion plum walls
Now blue and brown
Weary arms holding the brush
Up, down, forward, back
Now the painting is done

Orange harvest moon
Rises slowly in
The autumn sky,
Crunching leaves
Along the path home.

Children laughing and playing
With excited faces
Learning ABC’s and 123’s
Pride showing
On the face of the teacher

Peace, tranquility, fulfillment,
All around spring flourishes.
Emotions high, feelings soar,
Souls entwine, hearts unite
Bodies become one.

Powerless

Sky turns black
Scurry in fear to shelter
West wind blows
Power lines snap
Blackout!

Balls being tossed
Bats on the swing
The sun’s brilliant shadows
Stretch across the field
Play ball

How I desire
My youthful self
Carefree
In the mountains
And thinking frivolous thoughts.

Bernie Ryan (5)

What a great poem. This is a great example of simplicity at its best. In the first line, the reader is drawn to their self. Being in nature and thinking about life in a carefree way and trivial thought going through a person’s head is very natural. This poem has a good sense of place because of the mountains. I like the line thinking frivolous thoughts. The word frivolous feels good in the poem. The poet used great word selection throughout the poem. —Josh

Heavy eyelids
Head resting
Sleep arrives
Soft sighs
Cuddle blanket.

Temptation is her name
Music her taste
Rouge on her lips
Mischief in her eyes
Do I submit . . .

Brad Wagner (3)

Every class there is always one similar to this one. I always get a kick out of it too. This one is great at describing a night out and a tempting woman, does the man take her home, or walk away? You decide. I love it, and it has great descriptive wording! katrina

Crazy, mesmerizing
Bright colors swirling in the wind
A whimsical garden addition
Pikes my little one’s curiosity
To stand there and stare