Single Black Feather

among high branches
at the end of the garden
silhouettes of crows
a single black feather falls
in kaleidoscope of leaves

© Kim M. Russell, 2016

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My response to Carpe Diem Tanka Splendor #1 Teika’s first of Ten Tanka Writing Techniques “Mystery and Depth”

I have arrived super late to the first episode of the November Carpe Diem Haiku Kai month due to a writing commitment, and apologise for joining in after the cut-off time.  I had so been looking forward to the “Ten Tanka Writing Techniques” by Teika, I want to catch up on every one of them. I was interested to see that the first technique is ‘mystery and depth – yūgentei, the image evoking ineffable loneliness’ for which Chèvrefeuille has chosen the topic of ‘coloured leaves’. I enjoyed the examples he shared, which illustrate the writing technique and the ‘link’ between haiku and tanka: both forms are mostly associated to nature and with a deeper meaning: we have to bring mystery and depth (spiritual layer) into our tanka.

uzura naku / mano no irie no / hamakaze ni / obananami yoru / aki no yūgure

cries of quail
from the shore of Mano cove
winds blow
waves of plume grass
ripple in autumn dusk

#5:533 Shinkokinshū:

furusato wa / chiru momijiba ni / uzumorete /noki no shinobu ni / akikaze zo fuku

my birthplace
buried under crimson leaves
fallen in the garden
sedge grass from the eaves
melancholy autumn wind