Welcome to Undertow Tanka Review, Issue 12

Undertow Tanka Review, Issue 12

Painting by Alberto Gironella,
Carmen

Ergodyne Bass

                               — somonka

jewel blue body

recurved fiberglass bow strung

with five slim cables

rich translucent sheen mirrors

me : guitar : face : guitar : me

fingers dig thunder

through the gut : fat neck lightning

low B the arrow

crackling groove stormcloud rumble

dragon glow : deep cave : dark bliss

―Vince Gotera

Body Music Matrix

                          — parallel haiku

                  á là Johannes S.H. Bjerg

rock strata
be-bop

                                mindanao
deep dark

wind scooped
fossil vertebrae

                                body cavities fluid

ocean floor
seashell

                                whoosh of
blood heartbeats

spark
psychedelic

                                angel wings slashing

vistas in the brain
flash doors

                                blue flame aura
phantom limbs

of perception
fuse

                                arias grace notes

―Vince Gotera

fragrant dusk

a frangipani bloom

falls

            ―Gavin Austin

lingering

in an exotic land

of make-believe…

I open my eyes

to familiar walls

―Gavin Austin

examining

my reflected image…

these wounds

I am now left to wear

battle-scars of this life

―Gavin Austin

Painting by Mario Carreño Morales,

Encuentro Junto al Mar

from the street you can――

hear them clicking and clacking—

spring window washers

―Barry George

was it music I heard

faintly from an alcove

of the closed casino...

or the boardwalk's

storm winds in the rain

―Barry George

cicadas...

for a moment there

deep silence

―W.R. Bongcaron

full moon

my long shadow

catches up

―W.R. Bongcaron

in bare red earth

where nothing grows

witches dance,

unholy furies screeching

from midnight to cockcrow

―Elizabeth Howard

Roberto Aizenberg

double vision--

genies in a gin bottle

one is fake

         ―Kyle Hemmings

guitar strings

cut my fingers

Joan of Arc

prays for me

in a soundproof room

―Kyle Hemmings

war museum

outside poppies

in bloom

        ―Rosa Clement

green tomatoes

on the window sill

when will you

open up

to me

―Randy Brooks

I try

to describe

her grandma’s face

wilted peonies

on the grave

―Randy Brooks

wide eyed wallflowers

clamor to glimpse his gold crown,

King Dandelion

―Kathleen A. Lawrence

Lovely and Dilapidated  - Parallel Haiku

The wind

whirled

                    He held

                    her hand

pulling her

his tether

                    like a boy

                    clutching

to her

heartstrings

                    a red

                    balloon

―Kathleen A. Lawrence

My Father  -  Somonka

Twirled ginger mustache

winking bright indigo eyes

and crooked smile curls

to rolling back white hairline

stroking hair with leathered hands

steps in polished bucks

peppered skin with wry freckles

polka-dot bow tie

strings loving heart together

booming voice grows gray and soft

―Kathleen A. Lawrence

back and forth

in line

for the roller coaster

seeing more or less

of her tattoo

―Randy Brooks

drinking fountain

I wait for the wasp

to finish

―Rosa Clement

late night storm

flashing through closed eyes

tomorrow is cleansed

―Bryan Marshall

midnight tryst –
bougainvilleas bend
with the breeze

―Theresa A. Cancro

tortoise shell –

all the things I never

told you

―Theresa A. Cancro

hint of dusk

we tiptoe through

your final hour

―Rachel Sutcliffe

high noon

the empty hammock

full of heat

―Rachel Sutcliffe

day long chill

finished her party food

alone

―Rachel Sutcliffe