Tanka

TANKA
短歌
Tanka is a 31-syllable poem from the rich
genre of classical Japan.
It follows the form 5-7-5-7-7.
I got introduced this form of poetry after I
watched Makoto Shinkai’s film
“The Garden of Words”
Ever since then, I started writing such
poetry to express my feelings and the world
that I see in front of me, and in my dreams.
Such genre helped me to express myself in
a manner of being self-aware and at the
same time, open to mistakes and
improvement.

短歌
the infamous bay
used to swim in hues of blue
shadowed by today
with trashes of me and you
as the bay swims all in gray

短歌

its resurrection
worked through the deaths
of many
no peaceful notion
still linked to controversy
and endless toxicity

短歌

the life of this bay
nothing but a metaphor
a sad song at play
of the men of manila
and the future of today

短歌

is this real or not?
just a dream or a nightmare?
can’t tell which is which
am I alive, and you’re dead?
or I’m dead and you’re alive?

短歌

under the gray skies
a few minutes to prepare
for twilight to come
for something beyond
human
to unmask itself to me

短歌

it is time to go
with all this weight I carry
over my shoulder
that I will try to shoulder
until I can let it go

短歌

an impatient girl
who screams like a
psychopath
who hates the whole world
yet barely understands it
maybe soon she will be free

短歌

here is another
another chance for my life
here is a new year
a new year to start again
to begin again, and live.

短歌

so I ran away
to a world that cannot stay
a world made of you
a world that never felt true
for it lies on us two

短歌

and it led me back
got lost in manila too
together with you
and there we found peace
and truth
a night tailored for us two

短歌

I stopped and looked back
why am I under attack?
there I found myself
teaching, while struggling to
walk
and there is no running now

短歌

so, what do I do?
now that I know what is true?
can I get a clue?
or should I just wait for you?
but who in the hell are you?

短歌

’til we meet again
with this temporary pain
and this long bright rain
you told me to keep my sane
because we will meet again

短歌

built myself from scratch
just to fall back down again
but I will not stop
as I learn from all the pain
I will smile, and start again

短歌

looking back, I see
a colorless memory
talking silently
telling me that I should be
the man that I dream to be

短歌

man, what should I do?
how will I be free of you?
is there a way out?
or am I just not ready?
to be who I really am?

短歌

close your eyes and see
something you’ve been
dreaming of
then, open your eyes
and take a look at the sky
live like it is far from lies

短歌

and now I wake up
with the same morning
coffee
same blue cigarette
but different blue inside
with tears still trying to hide

短歌

right behind the doors
lies how true life was before
just before it soars
to reach life beneath the core
it went right back to the floor

短歌

waiting for something
something I really don’t
know
in this unknown realm
I found who I really am
forgot I waited for it

短歌

I want you to know
I may have fallen before
even crushed my core
but I will put on a show
for my very own last ride

短歌

run away from hue
towards something you don’t
know
to a garden of
symphonies and green roses
a garden of all of hue

短歌

darling, wait for me
baby, please hold me tightly
tell me what you see
in your heart, filled with
questions
is there future for us two?

短歌

I wish to be lost
escape this world at all cost
see the same old posts
that saw my being at most
a life that I lost

短歌

I heard, she returned
I have to really admit
I really missed her
I still have this care for her
after all this time

短歌

I decided to
write what I have been
dreaming
not a tomorrow
but the very yesterday
that is far away

短歌

stuck in this small space
barely seeing any light
but all is alright
it needs to, or else I’ll go
somewhere I once was

短歌

looking for a place
where I will be who I am
not knowing a thing
and there I found what I need
when I was told to be me

短歌

so, where do I go?
when I cannot fall asleep?
I am tired of it
but I have to keep going
for life will soon be alright

短歌

I feel somewhat lost
trying to move at all cost
trying to escape
the circle I got stuck with
still fighting, not losing hope

短歌

so I lay outside
looking at the very stars
that knows who I am
more than I even know me
one day, maybe, I will be –

短歌

taken by my mind
to a bay I always knew
something from a dream
screaming in serenity
longing for it to be real

短歌

so I put aside
all the things I should have
done
looking from outside
to understand what I hide
and why I set it aside

短歌

I look at myself
and I see everyone else
then I looked at you
surrounded by this deep
blue
and I saw myself

短歌

a storm brewing in
for months, it stayed deep
within
but now, it rages
how long will this part go
on?
will I still live? and go on?